


A Game of Shadows in Crimson Peak

by Invaderdoom78



Category: Crimson Peak - Fandom, Sherlock Holmes - fandom
Genre: I'm probably the only one who would ever think of something like this, Lucille goes crazy and then gets better, M/M, M/M Sex, Minor Avengers camios, Two OFCs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-06-01 05:03:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 42,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6501805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Invaderdoom78/pseuds/Invaderdoom78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In all honestly this only happened because I like FrostIron and I thought this would be cute since Loki/Thomas Sharpe and Tony Stark/Holmes have the same actors, plus Crimson Peak and Sherlock Holmes take place in the same-ish 18th or 19th century time periods in Great Britain.</p><p>Link to cover image: http://fav.me/d9ydxnq</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

This was not what he was supposed to be doing. This was not what should have happened. All he was supposed to do was get parts for his machine and find woman to marry him when he needed to, not fall in love. It all started about a year ago, Sir Thomas Sharpe was in town waisting time as he waited for the parts to his machine to be delivered and decided to pop into a building that was well known for its fights. Normally the baron would never consider going to such a barbaric activity, but for some reason he felt drawn to it. Taking a spot near the front of the ring he prepared himself for what was to come, never expecting to to find one of the fighters actually attractive. It came as a shock when he found himself unable to take his eyes off of the man, regardless of how bloodied his face had become, and he was even more shocked when the man winked at him. Once the fight had finished Thomas decided to ask around about the man, learning his name was Holmes and he had a reputation as a rather good detective. Feeling satisfied in his findings he decided to head back to the Depo not expecting to be stopped by the very man he had been asking around about.  
"So you're the one who's been asking about me?" Holmes asked leaning against the side of the building  
"And if I am?" Thomas asked stopping to address the other  
"Well since you know so much about me I was hoping I could learn something about you" Holmes said walking up to the other man  
"Such as?" Thomas asked continuing his walk  
"Well for starters" Holmes said fallowing "your name"  
"I am Sir Thomas Sharpe"  
"Well as I'm sure you know I am Sherlock Holmes and judging by the way you were looking at me, your eyes never leaving my bloodied face with that beautiful sparkle shining in them, and how the faintest trace of a blush painted when your cheeks when I winked at you I'd say you also have developed a fond interest in me"  
Thomas and Holmes relationship hadn't been like any of Thomas' previous ones. It had started out as a mutual interest in each other, which soon developed into a very good friendship, and finally turned romantic and passionate. It was nice to know that he didn't have to end this relationship with death. Though the fact that he was spending an awful lot of time in town with him had made Lucile suspicious, though he had managed to make her drop the issue. Today was a special day not only was it the anniversary of the day he had met Holmes it had also been about a month to the day since his sister had killed his latest wife, Edith Cushing. He was excepting many things to happen this day, however a knock on the door was not one of them. Ever cautious Thomas descended the step for the front door, pressing his ear up to the wood to listen for any voices.  
"Are you sure people live here?" a male voice said from the other side  
"Of course Watson" the other voice said, Thomas recognizing it as Holmes "a very good friend of mine lives here" smiling Thomas opened the door "speak of the devil"  
"Hello Holmes" Thomas said as his sister came down the steps "Dr. Watson"  
"Thomas who's there?" Lucille asked  
"This is my friend form town Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson" Thomas said allowing the duo in "Holmes, Dr. Watson this is my sister Lucille"  
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you" Holmes said walking up to Lucille, taking her hand kissing the top of it "your brother has told me many stories about you"  
"All of them good I hope" Lucile said as Thomas closed the door  
"Of course" Thomas said "perhaps we should take this into the living room"  
"That sounds like a marvelous idea" Holmes said before happily adding "if I recall correctly Lucille is a wonderful on the piano"  
"The best I've ever heard" Thomas said pointing them towards the living room "if you walk down the hall and turn into the first door on the right you'll find it. We'll be there in a moment"  
"I'll make sure he doesn't break anything" Watson said as he and Holmes walked down the hall  
"What are they doing here?" Lucille asked whispering harshly at her brother  
"I don't know" Thomas said noticing dark clouds forming in the sky through the hole in the roof  
"Could it have something with Edith?" Lucille asked as they made their way to the living room  
"Possibly" Thomas said as they entered the room  
"Is this your mother?" Holmes asked looking up at the portrait  
"Yes" Thomas said walking up to the detective "the painter has done a marvelous job at capturing her…"  
"Permanent scowl, icy demeanor, natural hatred for the ones around her" Holmes listed out  
"Yes" Thomas sighed  
"So what brings you two here?" Lucille asked taking a seat at her piano  
"I wish it were on happier circumstances" Watson sighed  
"Did something happen?" Thomas asked  
"It concerns your late wife Edith" Watson said only Thomas noticing Holmes tense at the fact his lover had gotten married while they were already in a relationship "a doctor from America has hired us to investigate her death"  
"Well what would you like to know?" Thomas asked taking a seat  
"First off" Holmes said turning around "how was the marriage"  
"It wasn't a happy one" Thomas said  
"And you married her because?" Holmes asked trying to hide his jealousy  
"Well her father had just been brutally murdered and she had no other family so I married her so she didn't feel alone, however her fathers death must have effected her much worse then I had recently thought. After everything that had happened she seemed to have a mental break down and soon became very ill and then passed away"  
"Well her friend seemed rather unconvinced of that" Watson said pausing to think of something else "what about your fist wife?"  
"Oh, uh, well" Thomas said obviously uncomfortable  
"It was tragic" Lucille chimed in "the poor dear had gotten pregnant and well, there was a problem while she was giving birth and we lost both her and the child"  
"I'm sorry to hear that" Holmes said placing a hand on the barons shoulder  
"Thank you" Thomas said placing his hand on top of the detectives  
"Do you mind if we have a look around?" Watson asked  
"Not at all" Thomas said allowing them to leave  
"We have to get rid of them" Lucille said when she was positive they were out of ear shot  
"I know" Thomas said as their was a loud crash of thunder "it seem as if there will be a storm tonight, perhaps it will be severe enough to convince them to spend the night"  
"Hopefully" Lucille said storming off into the kitchen  
Letting out an exhausted sigh Thomas ran his finger through his hair and went upstairs so he could be alone in his room to think. As he opened the door to his room a pair of arms quickly grabbed him, silencing his scream as the door was shut behind them.  
"Don't scream" Holmes said removing the hands "it's just me"  
"How did know this was my room?" Thomas asked once the panic had ebbed away  
"I'll be honest" Holmes said watching Thomas as he sat down on his bed "it was a lucky guess"  
"What about your famous deductive skills?" Thomas asked patting the space next to him, offering Holmes a place to sit  
"They are still better than everyones but, there is something about this place that makes me uncomfortable"  
"Is it because the building is falling apart?" Thomas asked resting his head on Holmes shoulder  
"No it's something darker" Holmes said resting his head atop the barons "...there is something you haven't told me, isn't there" he said after a few minuets of silence  
"Yes" Thomas said knowing that Holmes would get the truth out of him eventualy, even though he didn't want to say anything  
"And it is" Holmes asked wrapping a comforting arm around Thomas  
Now Thomas had told Holmes many things through out their relationship, about how his mother had locked him and his sister in the attic, how they had became romantically involved, and how his sister had killed their mother, but never about how he married woman for their money and sat back as his sister poisoned them.  
"My wives deaths were never accidents" Thomas sighed afraid of what Holmes reaction would be "I never really wanted to kill them, but Lucille had convinced me that the only thing we could do to get by was if I married rich woman with no family and then she would get rid of them once I was in possession of their estates"  
"And you didn't object to her because you are afraid of her" Holmes stated  
"Partly" Thomas said whipping away the tear that had slipped from his eye "and partly because I wanted to finish my machine so we didn't have to do this any more"  
"Did you love any of them?" Holmes asked lifting his head  
"Not my wives" Thomas smiled as he felt Holmes gently grabbing his chin  
"But there is someone" Holmes said looking Thomas in his eyes  
"Yes" Thomas said as the detective rested his forehead against the barons  
"Who’s the lucky one?"  
"Hm, I'm not sure if I should tell you that" Thomas chuckled as Holmes tilted his head so their lips could connect  
The kiss started out sweet and gentle until Holmes pushed the baron down onto his bed, then it became more passionate. In the back of his mind Thomas knew this was a terrible idea, any moment his sister could walk in but he didn't care. When he and Holmes were together they rarely got to show this much affection towards each other either because they were either out in public or because they were around Dr. Watson. The only time they were alone is when they are in Holmes apartment where they never had to worry about Mrs. Hudson, she knew fully well of their relationship after accidentally walking on them while they were having their first moment of intimacy. Which had been the most embarrassing moment of Thomas' life but not Holmes, it had seamed as if that wasn't the first time this had happened to either him or his land lady. Though it was the first time it had been with a man underneath him on the floor. All of Thomas' worries had vanished once Holmes warm hand slipped under his shirt and slid up his side. Moaning quietly Thomas opened his mouth allowing the detectives tongue in his mouth as they fought for dominance, Holmes eventually winning enjoying the opportunity to explore his lovers mouth.  
"Holmes wait" Thomas murmured gently pushing the detective away  
"What?" Holmes asked concerned  
"I think my sister is coming" Thomas said sitting up, adjusting his clothing  
"Great" Holmes sighed getting to his feet  
"Thomas?" Lucille asked getting to the top of the stairs  
"I'm in here Lucille" Thomas called out  
"Have you heard anything from the detectives?" Lucille asked walking into her brothers room "oh, Mr. Holmes"  
"I was just asking your brother a few questions about the house, since it seems to be sinking into the ground" Holmes said turning around to address the older sibling  
"Oh, well as long as you stay away from the locked doors you and your partner should be perfectly safe" Lucille said smiling  
"And the basement" Thomas added in  
"Thank you for the information, but would you mind showing where the restroom is?" Holmes asked  
"Of course" Thomas offered getting to his feet as well "fallow me"  
"Do you know where your partner is?" Lucille asked as they passed her  
"No but he's most likely down stairs" Holmes said noticing the 'get these people out of here' look Lucille gave her brother  
"Well I'll go look for him and make sure he is alright" Lucille said faking her smile before leaving  
"I don't think she likes me very much" Holmes pointed out as he and Thomas walked down the hall  
"She doesn't like anybody" Thomas chuckled stopping by a door "the bathroom is in here"  
"Thank you" Holmes said giving Thomas a quick peck on the cheek  
Sighing Thomas was unsure of what to do now and walked over to the railing along the hall watching as rain fell through the hole in the roof. As he finished his business Holmes was washing off his hands when he heard water running through a rusted pipe, that wasn’t attached to the sink, but thought nothing of it until he heard something splashing around in the bath tub. Unsure of whether or not his ears were playing tricks on him he looked over at the bath and saw nothing but an empty tub. Drying his hands off he dropped the towel on the floor and went to close the door behind him catching a flash of red in his peripheral vision so he looked back at the tub still seeing nothing, shaking it off as nothing more than his imagination. Not really wanting to investigate the house he decided to search for Watson, eventually finding him in a back room on the third floor full of black moths.  
"Holmes" Watson said noticing the detective was now in the same room as him "have you found anything yet?"  
"No I haven't" Holmes lied not wanting to give up Thomas  
"What is your opinion of the sister?" Watson asked  
"I don't believe she is very fond of us" Holmes stated bluntly  
"Perhaps it would be best if we leave" Watson suggested  
"I don't think that is a wise decision" Lucille said carrying a tray with a pot of tea and two cups on top of it "it is raining rather hard out there and the roads may be too dangerous to travel"  
"I'm sure we will survive" Holmes said as Lucille placing the tray down on a nearby table  
"Nonsense" Lucille said pouring out two cups of tea "we have plenty of room for two extra people"  
"If you insist I don't see any harm in it" Watson said as Lucille dropped a lump of sugar into each cup, stirring them until they devolved  
"I shall tell Thomas then" Lucille said leaving the tray behind as she left  
"Don't drink the tea" Holmes said as Watson reached out for one of the cups  
"Why not?" Watson asked  
"Because the sugar she put in the cup contained poison" Holmes said dumping both cups out the window  
"How could you tell?" Watson asked as Holmes grabbed one of the remaining lumps  
"It's faint but their is a scent of cyanide on the sugar and I am going to assume the tea itself also contained some form of poison"  
"So none of the wives death were an accident then" Watson said as something came to him "do you think Thomas had anything to do with the deaths?"  
"I don't believe so" Holmes said "he told me that when they were children Lucille had been sent to an institution after their mothers death. So it is possible she has been disposing of his wives without his knowledge"  
"What should we do then?" Watson asked  
"Sit back and see how the night progresses"  
"And if she tries to poison us again?"  
"We pray that it isn't a lethal amount"  
After that Holmes and Watson had decided to finish their search of the house and regrouped in the empty living room.  
"Holmes" Thomas said poking his head into room "I have something I wish to show you"  
"I'll be right back Watson" Holmes said fallowing Thomas  
"Let's take the elevator" Thomas said opening the cage door  
"Is it stable?" Holmes asked questioning the rather loud creak it had made when they stepped on it  
"Enough" Thomas said pulling the lever  
"You don't sound very confident" Holmes chuckled as they rose  
"Because I'm not. I'm not confident about anything in this house"  
"Then why do you stay here?"  
"This is all that is left to the Sharpe name aside from my sister and I"  
"What about your mining machine?"  
"I don't believe I will ever get it to work properly" Thomas sighed looking depressed "as my late wife Ediths father had said" he held his hand up so he could look down at it "my hands are to soft to be an inventor"  
"I like that your hand are soft" Holmes said bringing the Barons hand to his lips causing the other to blush  
"Stop it" Thomas said pulling his hand away "Lucille might see us"  
"She's going to have to learn about us sooner or latter"  
"If she does then she'll try and kill you" Thomas said wrapping his arms around the other man "and I don't want to lose you"  
"You won't" Holmes said wrapping his arms around Thomas "I've faced off against foes much larger than her"  
"But she won't stop until either you or her are dead" Thomas said as Holmes ran his fingers though the others hair  
"Shh" Holmes shushed "it's alright. Nothing is going to happen"  
"How do you know" Thomas sniffed  
"Trust me" Holmes said as they got to the attic  
"I do" Thomas said as Holmes opened the gate  
"So what was it you wanted to show me?" Holmes asked letting Thomas take his hand  
"Nothing" Thomas said as the got out of the elevator "I just wanted to spend some time with you and Lucille rarely comes up here"  
"Oh sir you flatter me" Holmes joked causing Thomas to laugh  
"I try my best" Thomas chuckled as they entered his work shop  
"So this's your workshop?" Holmes asked taking everything in  
"Yes" Thomas said picking up a wooden doll head "you know when I was young I used to make toys for Lucille all the time"  
"Hm" Holmes said looking at the model of the miner "so what's wrong with your machine" he turned on the model and watched it as it ran  
"It only runs for so long before it over heats and stalls out for hours" Thomas sighed  
"Perhaps I can take a look at it when the rain lets up" Holmes offered "do you have any workers to help you?"  
"Yes. They only come around for a week or two every month, except for during the cold season" Thomas said leaning back against the table that was behind him  
"Are they expected back anytime soon?" Holmes asked walking over to the baron  
"Next month they are" Thomas said as Holmes sat next to him against the table  
"Does your sister ever poison food?" Holmes asked wrapping an arm around Thomas waist, pulling him closer  
"No just tea"  
"So I don't have to worry about coughing up blood then?" Holmes asked nuzzling Thomas' covered neck  
"No" Thomas chuckled letting the detective move his collar so he could kiss the skin hidden beneath it "unless she decides to stab you"  
"Now why would she want to do that?" Holmes asked undoing the barons shirt and waistcoat  
"I wouldn't know" Thomas said undoing the clothing that covered the detectives chest  
"Could it have something to do with this?" Holmes asked nipping at Thomas' neck leaving behind a nice mark  
"I don't think so" Thomas said letting Holmes push him onto the table  
"Well then what about this?" Holmes asked trailing kisses down from the barons neck to his chest gently tugging on his nipple between his teeth  
"Possibly" Thomas moaned as Holmes continued playing with his nipple as the detective undid his pants, slipping them off his body  
"I guess I need to keep trying then" Holmes said restarting his trail of kisses down Thomas' body until he reached his half-hard cock placing a kiss at the base, licking up to the tip, before taking it into his mouth bobbing his head while simultaneously massaging his balls in his hand. Bitting his bottom lip Thomas tried to muffle his moans as he gripped the detectives hair. Enjoying the reaction he'd gotten Holmes began swirling his tongue around the hardened flesh moving his hand from Thomas' balls stroking the base.  
"Holmes" Thomas said, his voice wavering as he felt his climax approaching, Holmes could also sense it's approach through the twitching of his thighs, so he stopped his ministrations  
"Yes?" Holmes asked leaning up to gently tug on Thomas' ear with his teeth  
"Please take me" Thomas pleaded  
"Are you sure?" Holmes asked grinding their crotches together  
"Yes" Thomas said breathlessly  
"Your wish is my command" Holmes said traveling back down the barons body  
Smirking Holmes blew softly against Thomas' puckered hole before kissing it, using his tongue to gently tease the opening. After a few more moments of teasing Holmes slipped his tongue into Thomas' hole thrusting it in and out, going deeper with each thrust until he felt the other was sufficiently lubed up. Leaning back up once again Holmes placed his fingers by the barons mouth.  
"Suck" Holmes whispered as Thomas nodded  
Doing as he was told the baron took the digits into his mouth, coating them with as much saliva as he could before the detective removed them. Repositioning his fingers at the others entrance Holmes slowly slipping one into Thomas gently stretching him as he added more digits. Letting out a pleasured groan Thomas ground his hips down onto the fingers inside him, impatient of what was to come. Feeling like he had done a sufficient job of stretching his lover Holmes removed his fingers and undid the button and zipper on his own pants letting them drop down to around his knees, rubbing the remaining saliva onto his own cock as he alined himself with Thomas' hole. Wrapping his legs around Holmes waist Thomas helped guide the other to his opening as he was entered, hissing quietly from the slight stinging he felt. Both remained still, panting slightly, Holmes because of the intense tightness around him and Thomas because of the dull pain he felt. Resting his forehead against his lovers Holmes waited for Thomas to tell him it was alright for him to start moving.  
"Move" Thomas panted, pulling the detective down into a passionate kiss, wrapping his arm tightly around the others neck  
Without hesitation Holmes grabbed a hold of Thomas' hips and slowly began to move, thrusting in at several different angles until he found what he was looking for, causing stars to burst in front of Thomas' eyes as his thrusts became rougher. Breaking their kiss Holmes went down to Thomas' neck, kissing along his jaw line until he reached a rapidly beating pulse point, nipping at it. Neither one bothered to muffle the noises they were making and ignored the fact that the table legs were scrapping against the floor. They were to enraptured by the feel being in each others arms and the passion they shared for each other, relishing in the rare moment of passion they had together.  
"Holmes" Thomas panted out "I'm close"  
"Then come for me" Holmes said grabbing a hold of Thomas' cock, stroking in time with his thrusts  
"Holmes!" Thomas cried out as he came, his seed exploding onto his chest as well as in Holmes hand  
"Thomas" Holmes grunted feeling the velvety walls around him constricting, sending him over the edge, unloading his own load into the other  
Though he had already came Holmes kept moving so both of them could ride out their orgasim. They remained still for what felt like hours only their lips moving against each other.  
"We should probably get cleaned up" Thomas said brushing a lock of hair away from Holmes sweat covered forehead  
"Can't it wait a few more minuets?" Holmes asked placing his hand on the barons cheek  
"Dinner should be ready soon and if we're late Lucille will come looking for us" Thomas said sitting up, pulling Holmes hankie out of his pocket so he could clean himself up  
"Fine" Holmes sighed reluctantly pulling out of his lover taking the hankie from Thomas so he could clean off his hand before pulling his pants back up  
"We can spend all the time we want together after dinner" Thomas said as Holmes slipped his pants up for him  
"You better keep that promise" Holmes said rebuttoning his loves as well as his own shirt and waist coat  
"I will" Thomas smiled getting off of the table  
"There will be hell to pay if you don't" Holmes said as they walked back over to the elevator  
When the elevator began moving Holmes and Thomas did their best to make themselves look as normal as possible. As Holmes was finishing fixing himself up he looked over at Thomas marveling in his beauty, catching a red figure floating in the air behind elevator. He had only seen it briefly before they had passed it, but he was positive it was a woman. Running over to the other side of the cage Holmes pressed his face against metal, looking up to try and get another look at the figure.  
"What are you looking at?" Thomas asked walking over to the detective  
"I thought I just saw an entirely red woman floating in the air just now" Holmes said as they finally landed on the main floor  
"I think you may finally be loosing it" Thomas said placing a hand on the detectives shoulder  
"Not yet my friend" Holmes said as they got off the elevator  
"We were just about to go looking for you two" Lucille said, Watson standing next to her  
"I was afraid that one of you may have broken through the floor" Watson said  
"No" Thomas said as Lucille herded them into the kitchen "I was just getting some advice on my miner"  
"There will be plenty of time for that after dinner" Lucille said as everyone took a seat at the table and she got the food  
Dinner had gone by without incident though both Holmes and Watson had been suspicious of the food they did their best not to show it. As they were in the middle of dinner Thomas had decided to be playful and gently rubbed his foot against Holmes leg, being the only one to notice the smile twitching at the edge of his lips. Feeling a little braver Thomas went to move his foot higher up on the detectives leg when something crashed onto the ground.  
"What was that?" Lucille asked standing up  
"It sounds like something hit the ground" Watson said trying to look out into the hall through the door way  
"But what though?" Thomas asked going to walk out into the hall  
"Bother wait" Lucille said fallowing  
"Should we go out there too?" Watson asked as Holmes was already making his way out to the hall "I guess that's a yes then. Right"  
Sighing Watson got to his feet also making his way out to the hall and saw that part of the second floor railing had been broken as if a body had fallen from the third floor smashed against it and then hit the floor, which had a red marking on it that appeared to be in the shape of a body laying in the center of the hole on the roof.  
"How did this get here?" Holmes asked kneeling down to examine the mark that wasn't being washed away by the slowing rain  
"Could it just be the house sinking?" Lucille asked furrowing her brows  
"If that is the cause then what was that bang?" Holmes asked before pulling out his pipe "and why is that railing now broken. Do you mind if I smoke?"  
"Not at all" Thomas said as Holmes lit up his pipe  
"Thank you" Holmes said taking a puff "I would like to say part of the roof has caved in but I don't see any debris"  
"This doesn't make any sense" Watson said looking at the railing above them "I'm going to go up and take a closer look"  
"Be careful" Lucille said as the doctor went for the steps  
Slowly Watson walked up the stairs, looking above him to make sure that if something else were to fall he would be ready for it. Once he had gotten to the damaged railing he gently ran his hand over it when he though he heard someone calling for help.  
"Hello?" Watson called out looking behind him  
"Help me" a faint voice replied  
"Are you injured?" Watson asked, not realizing he was walking towards the voice  
"Please. Help. Me"  
"Where are you?" Watson asked peaking into each opened door room he had passed  
"In here" a different voice said from inside the bathroom  
Reaching for the handle the doctor slowly turned the knob, using his cane to push open the door, peaking into the bathroom making sure he wouldn't be attacked before walking in, utterly confused when he saw no one inside. He knew what he had done next was a terrible idea, but he couldn't stop himself as his legs carried him, against his will, up to the bath tub as red liquid dripped out of the faucet. As he stood there the liquid began coming out faster, soon becoming a geyser exploding into the tub and, as much as Watson wanted to, he couldn't move. It felt as if an unseen force was holding him in place. When the tub had finally become full and the faucet had turned itself off, the temperature in the room dropped low enough for him see his own breath floating in front of his eyes. Feeling a lump growing in the pit of his stomach Watson tried to mentally prepare himself for what was to happen next, getting ready to run if he needed to, though he was unable to move as the water began moving, swirling into the air until if formed a skeletal shape inside of a tattered dress sitting in the bathtub.  
"You have helped filth into my home" the ghost rasped out  
Watson didn't respond or even look at the entity, the moment it had finished forming he was able to move his legs once again and was out the door in two seconds flat. Slamming the door behind him Watson tried to process what had just happened when the floor began creaking and the cold chill had made itself present. Once again the doctor tied to move but was unable to as he heard cracking bones and something scraping across the floor getting close to him, so he reluctantly looked to his side where the noise was coming from.  
"Bloody hell" Watson murmured to himself as he saw another skeleton in a tattered dress crawling along the floor towards him, though this one seemed as if it had pieces of flesh still attached to its bones  
"They lie" it said "the two men lie"  
"Who?" Watson asked feeling less intimidated by this one then the one in the other room  
"Your friend and the baron" it said before vanishing  
"Holmes and Thomas?" Watson asked a loud to himself "lies. What have they lied about?"  
Taking a moment to think over Watson decided to track down his friend and ask him a few questions. As Watson was looking for the detective, Holmes and Thomas had managed to sneak away for Lucille into Thomas' room.  
"Have you come up with any ideas about the broken railing?" Thomas asked as he and Holmes got into his bed, both of them resting their backs against the head board  
"No" Holmes asked leaning against Thomas' side "how about you" Thomas responded with a throat clearing "what do you know?"  
Thomas sighed "Lucille pushed Edith off of the third floor and she bounced off the second floor railing before hitting the ground about where that red mark was"  
"Thomas" Holmes sighed taking Thomas' hand "I think you may want to think about sending your sister back to the institution"  
"I can't" Thomas said squeezing the hand holding his "I promised her we'd always be together"  
"You're not safe here, especially if she decides to act on her rage"  
"I don't know if I can do it though" Thomas said cuddling into the detectives side  
"I just want you to be safe" Holmes said wrapping both his arms around his lover  
"I know" Thomas said as somebody opened the door to his room  
"Holmes" Watson said walking into the room "oh"  
"Watson" Holmes said both him and Thomas immensely relieved that it wasn't Lucile who had walked in  
"Was I interrupting something?" Watson asked slightly embarrassed  
"Not really" Thomas said trying to untangle himself from the detectives arms, though Holmes was having none of it and kept him in place  
"Did you find anything?" Holmes asked acting like nothing was wrong  
"I did actually" Watson said deciding to finally close the door behind him "it seems as if there are, how do I explain this"  
"Red colored skeleton ghost in the house" Thomas said knowing that's what the doctor had scene  
"Yes. As I was looking at the railing something had pulled me into the bathroom where I encountered a woman" Watson said hesitating at woman "in the bath and she told me that 'I had helped bring filth into her home'. After that when I had gone back into the hallway there was another one who was telling me that 'the detective and baron have lied'. Would you have any idea what that would mean?"  
"Who knows" Holmes shrugged  
"I believe it would be safe to say Mrs. Hudson knows" Watson said recalling how there was one day the land lady refused to let him up to Holmes apartment while Thomas had happened to be over  
"I believe she may" Holmes said as Watson began chuckling "what's so funny"  
"Nothing" Watson smiled "I would just like to know why I wasn't told about this" he motioned to Thomas and Holmes  
"Well I wasn't sure how you would react" Holmes said as Watson sat on the edge of the foot of the bed  
"Holmes your my friend why would I care?" Watson said smacking Holmes foot "as long as he's keeping you out of trouble I'm happy for you, but I am sorry for your burden Thomas"  
"It is hard but I manage" Thomas laughed as Holmes looked at him "what?"  
"You would be incredibly board without me around" Holmes said  
"Maybe" Thomas said managing to slip out of the detectives arms "but I'm pretty sure I'll survive"  
"I know I do much better when he's not around" Watson said  
"Hey!" Holmes said as the room began getting slightly colder "did it just get colder in here?"  
"I think so" Thomas said  
"Oh boy" Watson said  
"What?" Holmes asked looking at his partner  
"This is what happened before the ghost showed up" Watson said pinching the bridge of his nose  
"Well that can't be good" Holmes said moving his legs to the side of the bed  
"No it can not" Thomas said getting slightly closer to the detective  
"You ok?" Holmes asked turning around  
"I don't know" Thomas said as a red figure began forming by the door  
"Thomas" the ghost said her voice nothing like the ones Watson had encountered, it was much kinder  
"Edith?" Thomas asked recognizing the voice  
"Your wife?" Holmes asked partially shielding Thomas with his body  
"What are you doing here?" Thomas asked  
"I've come to warn you" Edith said finishing her materialization "about your mother"  
"What about her?" Holmes asked cocking an eyebrow  
"She know's about the relationship the two of you have and she is livid" Edith said "I believe she may even be trying to find a way to tell Lucille of it"  
"Why are you telling him this?" Watson asked, getting to his feet  
"Because she is the only one I tried to save" Thomas said as he and Holmes got off of his bed as well  
"She's coming" Edith said turning her head to look back at the door "you all need to get out of here now"  
"Thank you Edith" Thomas said before he and Watson left the room  
"Wait" Edith said reaching out to stop Holmes "please, take care of him"  
"I will" Holmes said as Edith faded away  
Once Edith had fully faded away Holmes left the room and was about to go down the stairs when a crazed yell rang out from behind him. Whipping around Holmes saw Lucille, her wide eyes wild, full of rage, betrayal, and sadness, her hair hanging in a mangled braid, while her white and green night dress appeared to have faint blood splatter stained to it, running towards him. Feeling a wave of panic flow through him Holmes turned back around and ran down the stairs, praying neither he nor Lucille fell as they ran.  
"Holmes!" Watson and Thomas said simultaneously when they saw the detective and Lucille running down the stairs  
"Don't worry about me" Holmes said when he got to the bottom of the steps, Lucille tackling him to the ground the moment his feet hit the main floor "just get out of here"  
"You bastard!" Lucille wailed strangling the detective from behind "I'll fucking kill you. Thomas is mine"  
"Lucille stop!" Thomas said running over to pry his sisters hands off of his lovers neck  
"You promised me we would always be together and you lied to me!" Lucille said a few tears fell from her eyes "you lied to me just like you did with Edith"  
"I didn't lie to you" Thomas said as Lucille ripped out of his hold "just because I'm with Holmes doesn't mean you’ll be alone or that I love you any less"  
"He's right" Holmes said rubbing his neck and getting to his feet "I know about what happened with your mother and you both need each others support"  
"You're still lying" Lucille said lunging at Holmes, but this time he was ready grabbing a hold of both her arms, turning her around so they were crossed in front of her body "let me go!"  
"This is for your own good" Holmes said as the woman he was holding began to struggle  
"Do you have any rope?" Watson asked  
"There is some outside" Thomas said walking over to the front door  
When Thomas was on the same side of the room as him Watson grabbed a hold of the door handle, cracking it open not even an inch before the house began shaking and a good portion of the roof caved in, separating Watson and Thomas and Holmes and Lucille on opposite sides of the house with very hazardous looking debris. As the roof was still falling Holmes realized some of it was coming directly at him and Lucille and, doing the only thing he could think of, he released his hold on Lucille, pushing her out of the way before diving after her, landing on top of her, shielding her with his body. Once the roof had finished collapsing and the dusted had settled Holmes looked down at the woman beneath him seeing that she wasn't moving, but was still breathing.  
"Holmes" Thomas called out from the other side of the pile "Lucille are you two alright?"  
"I'm alright" Holmes said getting to his feet realizing that the rubble was just low enough for him to just barely see over it "but Lucille is unconscious and still breathing"  
"How are you going to get out of there?" Watson asked  
"The basement" Thomas said while Holmes lifted up Lucille, throwing her arm over his shoulder "my miner has broken through part of the wall down there and you can climb out through the belt "  
"How do I get down there?" Holmes asked  
"The only way is through the elevator"  
"Alright, go wait by the miner and I will meet you there" Holmes said turning to go find the elevator "I'll meet you there as soon as I possibly can"  
"Wait" Thomas said walking a little closer to the pile  
"What?" Holmes asked turning around  
"Be careful" Thomas said his eyes full of concern  
"I will be" Holmes said taking a moment to look the baron in the eyes "I promise" he turned around and left  
Cautiously Holmes made his way through the hall, on the look out for anything else that may fall from the ceiling. Once he reached the elevator he took a deep breath before stepping on and pulling the lever, praying none of the cables snapped as they went down. His prayers seemed to be answered as they went down with nothing more than a bit of rattling and a shaky landing. As quickly as he could, while still holding Lucille, Holmes got off the elevator walking about half way to the miner before gently placing her on the ground so he could figure out the safest way to carry her up the belt as the rain that fell through the hole. While she was laying on the ground Lucilles eyes began to flutter open as she slowly pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. Still feeling slightly groggy Lucille managed to take in her surroundings, realizing she was in the basement by the very block she had hidden the meat cleaver she used to murder her mother under. Laughing quietly she grabbed ahold of the slab of rock, pulling it away from the hole, joyously taking rusted clever out of the hole while shakily getting to her feet. Leaning against one of the wells Lucille waited a couple seconds for her head to stop spinning before lumbering towards the detective until she was able to walk strait.  
"How am I supposed to get up you?" Holmes asked, tapping the waving bucket, more to himself then anyone around watching as red clay dripped from the tunnel he would be going up  
"Perhaps you and Lucille can step on one of the buckets and we can turn it on low" Thomas said as he and Thomas appeared at the top of the hole, looking down at the detective  
"Won't that be too fast?" Watson asked no one noticing Lucille walking behind the detective  
Once she was behind Holmes Lucille took a few deep breaths before raising the cleaver above her head. Hearing a slight scuffling behind him Holmes turned around shocked to see Lucille was up and moving, not so much because she had an enormous meat cleaver raised above her head.  
"Oh shi-" Holmes said dodging the swings that were made at him  
"Holmes!" Watson said stopping Thomas from trying to get down to his lover  
"Throw me down your cane" Holmes said running away from the crazed woman  
"Here" Watson said throwing his cane, dropping it a few feet away from his friend  
Tumbling away from Lucille Holmes dove for the cane, pulling the sword hidden inside of it out of the sheathe he held it in front of him to block the cleaver. Using his razor sharp mind Holmes decided to plot out Lucille's next few moves. Tears are began to form in her eyes again, Holmes thought to himself as he closely watched Lucille, she will be swinging blindly block her swing with Watsons cane sword, then dislodge meat cleaver from her hold, after she is weaponless she will come at me with a feral right jab block it then discombobulate, dazed she will attempt to kick me in the groin, jump out of her reach before traumatizing diaphragm. After he had finished mapping out his mental plan Holmes acted on it, the only injury he sustained was a cut on the top of his forearm from the cleaver when he nocked it away from Lucille. Collapsing to the ground Lucille began wheezing trying to get air into her lungs as she, using the sides of her leg and hip, backed away from Holmes until her back hit a well. Cracking his knuckles Holmes grabbed a hold of Lucilles waist and threw her over his shoulder before she had a chance to fight back so he could carry her over to the miner belt.  
"Are you still alive down there?" Watson asked as Lucille began pounding on the detectives back  
"Yes" Holmes said stepping up onto a bucket  
"Start her up Thomas" Watson said turning to look behind him  
"I suggest you stop moving Lucille" Holmes said as they were slowly rising "unless you desire to smack your head off of the tunnel"  
Growling Lucille knew he was right and reluctantly did what Holmes had said, remaining still until they were above ground then she started punching his back again.  
"You know that's not doing anything right?" Holmes asked hoping off of the belt onto the wet red ground, staining the bottom of his pants "Watson get a rope. This is getting annoying"  
"Here" Thomas said tossing a rope bundle down to the doctor as Holmes placed Lucille down on the ground, still keeping a good hold on her  
"Thank you my good sir" Watson said unwinding the bundle so he could bind Lucilles hands together along with the bends of her elbows around her body all while dodging the several bites made at him  
"Holmes" Thomas said getting down from his machine "you're bleeding"  
"Oh" Holmes said looking at his cut "it seem as if I am"  
"When did that happen?" Watson asked after he'd finished tying off the ropes, tying an extra rope to the one around her waist attaching it to the miner  
"I would assume when I smacked the meat cleaver out of her hand" Holmes said  
"Is it deep?" Watson asked rolling up his partners sleeve to get a look at the cut  
"I'm not sure" Holmes said letting the doctor examine the gash  
"Well it's not deep enough for stitches" Watson said pulling out a small first aid kit he kept in his inner jacket pocket "but it does need to be bandaged up"  
Opening the bag Watson began patching up Holmes wound as Thomas sat back and watched, worried both about Holmes cut and how violently his sister was struggling to get free. Terrified that Lucille was going to hurt her self Thomas approached her to try and help her calm down, however the moment he got in her line of sight she let out an animalistic yell, attempting to strike out at him in any way possible. Taken a back by Lucilles attempt to harm him, Thomas gasped and backed away until he bumped into Holmes, who almost immediately grabbed a hold of his arms.  
"What's wrong?" Holmes asked  
"She, she tried to attack me" Thomas said still shocked, watching as Lucille collapsed to the ground appearing to be having a mental breakdown, as a waterfall of tears fell from her eyes  
"Are you alright?" Holmes asked rubbing his hands against Thomas biceps  
"I think so" Thomas said taking a beep breath  
"You know I can't just sit back and let what she's done go untold" Watson said looking slightly dis hearted "she needs help"  
"I know" Thomas sighed feeling betrayed  
"There are both a mental institution and prison a short carriage ride away from my apartment, you can visit her everyday if you want" Holmes said  
"What about Mrs. Hudson?" Watson asked "won't she be upset about you suddenly having a new permanent roommate"  
"She won't mind" Holmes said embracing Thomas "she adorers him"  
"Probably because I actually make sure your apartment is clean and undamaged" Thomas smiled  
"I know" Holmes said capturing his loves lips in his own


	2. Chapter 2

Almost a year has passed since the incident back at Crimson Peak, Lucille has since been relocated at a mental institution and Thomas has moved into Holmes apartment, much to Mrs. Hudsons joy. Just like Holmes had said the institution was only a short carriage ride away and Thomas would visit his sister when ever her doctors would allow him to. Even though they never told Thomas what they were doing to his sister it seemed to be working, the first few times he had brought Holmes along with him on his visits, Lucille had tried to maul him but with the most recent visit she just sat back and glared daggers at the detective. However in all the time Thomas has been living with Holmes he had never met Dr. Watsons wife Mary until today, he and Watson had set up a lunch for noon at a very nice restaurant. It was still somewhat early in the morning so Holmes and Thomas were still asleep, spooning in bed as somebody knocked on the door.  
"Go away" Holmes mumbled burying his face into Thomas' neck  
"What time is it?" Thomas asked groggily   
"Too early" Holmes said as the lock on their door tumbled  
"Are you two naked in there?" Mrs. Hudsons granddaughter and one of their new roommates, having moved in with her twin sister soon after Watson had moved out, Rebecca asked cracking open the door   
"Yes" Holmes said   
"No" Thomas said over top of the detective  
"It doesn't matter" Becca said walking in, she was thin with pale skin, blue eyes, and a face and voice that conveyed little emotion, her hair was a curly dark colored mess that was styled similarly to Bellatrix from Harry Potter, and was wearing a blood red dress that had a black floral pattern and section that ran down the middle of her dress from her neckline to the bottom of the skirt, and a necklace with a silver chain with a diamond that had a rainbow effect to it over top it "what time were you guys planning to wake up at?"  
"Never" Holmes grumbled pulling the cover over his head  
"Thomas and Watson have put a lot of effort into this" Becca said walking over to the bed to rip off the covers from Holmes head "and I am not letting you weasel your way out of this"   
"Thank you Becca" Thomas sighed getting up, the two of them, plus Lucille and Beccas twin, had been friend for years, after having accidentally, physically, bumping into each other and Becca had informed him of the ghosts that were in his home  
It was no secret to anyone in town that Becca or twin were a people who were able to communicate with the dead as well as being able to predict the future. Their abilities were even impressive enough to convince Holmes they were real, after all they knew how his and Thomas' relationship began was well as what would happen when he and Watson went up to Crimson Peak as well as several incidents in between.   
"How much time before we need to go?" Holmes asked rolling onto his back  
"About three hours" Thomas said looking at the clock "is C..."  
"She went to the train station with Eric" Becca interrupted picking up a few articles of clothing off the floor  
"Great, but you should get out of here" Holmes said to Becca "I really am naked"  
"Of course you are" Becca sighed before leaving the room  
"I'm going to take a bath" Thomas said getting out of bed   
"Do you want me to join you?" Holmes asked rolling onto his side to look at his lover  
"That does sound nice" Thomas said smiling "but I don't need you getting anymore sidetracked"   
"Boo" Holmes pouted  
"If you're good then maybe you'll get lucky after lunch" Thomas said walking into the bathroom   
"What about if I'm just ok?" Holmes asked watching Thomas as he shook his head and closed the bathroom door "is that a no?"   
The rest of the morning went by without much incident and Holmes and Thomas had gotten cleaned up and dressed with just enough time to get to the restaurant. Leaving the apartment Holmes and Thomas were about to walk out the front door, when Becca stopped them.  
"Wait!" Becca said walking down the stairs after them  
"Why?" Holmes asked   
"Something bad is going to happen today. I just don't know what it is yet" Becca said   
"I've got my gun" Holmes said opening the front door "we'll be fine"   
"We'll be back soon" Thomas said giving Becca a hug  
"Be careful"   
The couple left the building and found a carriage already out front waiting for them as well as one of their four neighbors, who happened to be Watson new medical partner, in Mrs. Hudson's other building adjacent to theirs walking out the front door.  
"Hey there Bruce" Holmes said as he closed the door   
"Hello Holmes" Bruce said looking like Mark Ruffalo and was wearing a nice suite with a purple waist coat and white undershirt "shouldn't you guys be at the restaurant already?"   
"We were just on our way out" Thomas said pushing Holmes into the carriage  
The ride was relatively quiet, the only time one of them spoke was when the restaurant came into view.   
"This may be a little awkward" Holmes said once the carriage came to a stop   
"What did you do?" Thomas asked   
"Well when Mary and I first met she threw a drink in my face and I don't believe you are what she would except when she imagines me in a relationship" Holmes said as they got out of the carriage  
"Does she imagine you with a criminal" Thomas sighed spotting Watson and Mary "Watson"  
"Yes" Holmes said as Watson and Mary walked over to them   
"Thomas. Holmes" Watson said greeting his friends  
"So this is Thomas?" Mary asked holding out her hand  
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you" Thomas said taking Marys hand, kissing the top of it  
"I have one question for you. If you don't mind my asking?" Mary asked  
"Not at all" Thomas said watching Mary glance from him to Holmes  
"Why?"   
"I'm honestly not sure" Thomas chuckled "it started out with me asking a few questions after watching him at a fight and it turned into this" he noticed the jewelry around her neck "that is a beautiful necklace" it was a slightly blue tinted silver chain with an aquamarine gem on it that had been carved so it had a waved shine to it   
"Thank you" Mary said placing her hand on the gem "Becca gave this to me"  
"So how's Lucille doing?" Watson asked as they walked into the restaurant   
"She seems to be doing better" Thomas said   
"That's wonderful" Watson said as they were taken to a table "is she expected out anytime soon?"  
"I'm not sure" Thomas sighed "her doctors don't really tell me anything"  
"What happens if she is released?" Mary asked already knowing the basics of Lucilles condition  
"Becca has already offered to let her stay in her half of the apartment and help keep an eye on her" Holmes said sticking both his hands in his pockets "what's this?" he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper   
"What's what?" Thomas asked  
"I'm not sure" Holmes said flattening out the paper "Tell Watson. When did she put this in my pocket?"  
"Becca?" Watson asked as the detective held the paper out in front of him the words tell Watson written in Beccas writing "tell me what?"  
"Before we left she told us something was going to happen" Thomas said   
"She didn't specify?" Watson asked  
"No she just told us to be careful" Holmes said sticking the paper back in his pocket  
"Maybe she was trying to tell us that Holmes is going to mess up again" Mary joked  
"Don't worry" Thomas said as the waiters brought drinks "I've made sure he'll behave"   
"That must have taken a lot of persuasion" Mary said   
"You just need to know the right words" Thomas said making Mary laugh   
"Oh well" Watson said looking at Holmes "I would say I would've liked to know what those words were but, I don't think I'd want to follow through on them"   
"I don't believe I would even want to imagine you making those kind of offers" Holmes said leaning back in his seat "I'm positive it would cause me nightmares for years to come"   
"Thank you for that information Holmes" Watson chuckled  
"I aim to please" Holmes smiled  
The rest of the lunch had gone by without incident and was very pleasant, Thomas and Mary had come to like each other very much and she was happy that Holmes had found someone he cared about the same way she cared for Watson. Once they had finished eating Mary had gone back to the home she was a governess for while Holmes and Thomas went back to their apartment with Watson joining them. When they got back to the apartment they found Inspector Lestrade and one of their other neighbors, who happened to be a constable, Steve waiting for them in the living room as Mrs. Hudson brought them tea. Steve looked like Chris Evans but wearing a constables uniform, that wasn't blue, or white, or red.   
"What's all this then Steve?" Holmes asked   
"We have some news for Thomas" Steve said getting to his feet  
"What is it?" Thomas asked  
"Your sister Lucille is missing" Lestrade said pulling a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket "we believe she was kidnapped, her door had been broken down, and we found this note in her room"  
"Let me see that" Becca said no one having noticed that she had come down stairs and joined the group  
"When did you?" Watson asked  
"Don't worry about it" Becca said grabbing the letter out of the Inspectors hand "uh!" she grunted flinging the note away, flared nostrils and exaggerated frown on her face as she walked up the paper kicking it towards the door before opening it so she could knock the paper outside  
"What was that?" Holmes asked as she bypassed all of them for the kitchen "don't ignore me. Nanny reprimand your grandchild"  
"I don't think I can" Mrs. Hudson said as Becca walked back in, a bottle of wine breathing in her hand  
"Are you alright?" Thomas asked as she held up her finger, putting the bottle to her lips, chugging it  
Removing the half empty bottle from her lips Becca took a deep breath before addressing Lestrade "The hell were you thinking bringing that thing in here, Steve?!"   
"Hey!" Steve protested  
"What did you see?" Mrs. Hudson asked concerned for her granddaughter   
"I" Becca said running her hand through her messy hair "it was Blackwood he was the who kidnapped Lucille and so many other things that make no sense" she mumbled the last few words  
"How?" Holmes asked leading her over to a chair so she could have a seat "I watched him fall to his death"  
"I don't know" Becca said "maybe he really did resurrect himself. The man I saw was like him in every way, same face, same mannerisms, same voice"   
"Perhaps we should go and investigate Lucilles room" Holmes said   
"We were hoping you would" Steve said   
"I'm coming with you" Thomas said   
"So am I" Becca said getting to her feet   
"I don't think that's a good idea" Holmes said more to Thomas than Becca, everyone knew it was a waste of time to try and stop her  
"She is my sister and I'm coming with you" Thomas said firmly   
"Alright" Holmes sighed giving in  
"We best hurry then" Lestrade said opening the front door   
"Quite right" Holmes said as they left the building and got into a carriage  
"So what was written on that paper?" Watson asked when they were almost to the institution   
"It was in a different language" Lestrade said "we were hoping Holmes would have been able to decode it"  
"Today marks the day of my return. Four more shall vanish. One shall die. My powers will return and a new world shall arise" Becca said not turning away from the window she was looking out  
"That sounds like Blackwood alright" Watson said as the carriage stopped   
Getting out of the carriage the group walked into the institution and headed for Lucilles room, down a seemingly empty hallway. They stopped about halfway through at the room whose door was completely knocked off its hinges. Cautiously Holmes, Thomas, Watson, and Becca walked into the room unsure of if any traps had been left behind. The room was the same as all the other rooms, a worn out bed by the barred window, a small closet, and a tiny chest for personal property, except she had been given a small piano in the corner of the room, probably for therapeutic reasons. All of them were looking around the room trying to find any clues.  
"What time was she taken?" Becca asked opening the small box   
"The surrounding occupants have all said a man in all black had come in and broken the door around midnight" Lestrade said   
"How do you know their statements are credible?" Holmes asked  
"All of the patients we questioned had told us the same thing" Steve said  
"The necklace I gave her is missing" Becca said looking through the contents of a few pictures of Lucille and Thomas and one of the two siblings and Becca and her sister together  
"What neckless?" Thomas asked walking over to Becca   
"It was bronze chain with flower designed on it with a peridot on the end of it" Becca said closing the chest "I gave it to her on her birthday and they made her keep both of them in this box"   
"Well" Holmes said turning to face the door "there are no signs of a struggle in here but" he walked up to the door to examine its hinges sniffing them "it appears as if the hinges have been broke with a controlled explosion" he rubbed his finger against the metal before bringing it to his mouth to taste it   
"Wasn't last night a new moon?" Becca asked narrowing her eyes slightly   
"Yes why?" Lestrade asked "do you know something?"   
"Possibly" Becca said "I need to talk to Cassandra. I'll be back" she left the room  
"I'm coming with you" Thomas said following her   
"We can't let them go alone" Watson said   
"I am well aware of this" Holmes said as he and the doctor walked after Becca and Thomas  
"They're coming" Thomas said noticing they were being followed "run!"   
Playing along Becca grabbed a hold of Thomas' hand and did what he had said, both of them running until they were out of the building. Groaning Holmes quickened his pace, still not running, as Watson calmly walked behind him until they were both outside with Becca and Thomas before they began walking, unsure of whether or not Cassandra was home yet. After a moment to thinking it over Holmes decided they should check her boyfriend place of work before checking the apartment. However to get to the boyfriend's work they needed to pass the apartment where the curtains on the first floor window slid open revealing that Cassandra was home and looking out at them. Her face looked very similar to Rebecca's, she was also just as thin and pale, but her eyes were green and her dark hair was styled the same way. It was slightly hard to tell but it seemed as though she was wearing the same dark blue dress that had a skirt that slowly faded from dark blue to white at the bottom edge that she always wore with a nearly black chained necklace with a blood stone hanging on it.   
"It seems as though our search has come to an end" Holmes said as they all walked up the step to the porch   
"Why didn't we start here?" Becca asked as the front door opened  
"Hello Holmes" Irene said being the one who opened the door   
"Irene" Holmes said taken back "what are you doing here?"  
"What?" Irene asked as she allowed them into the foyer "am I not allowed to visit"  
"So did you find out what happened to Lucille?" Cassandra asked still standing in the living room  
"No" Becca sighed walking into the living room   
"Did you grab her chest?" Cassandra asked as Becca pulled the chest out of where she had hidden it in her skirt   
"Why did you take that?" Thomas asked joining them in the living room along with Watson   
"Reasons" Becca said taking out the pictures  
"Who's this?" Irene asked realizing she'd never seen the baron before  
"This is Sir Thomas Sharpe" Holmes said noticing a golden chain around Irenes neck, walking closer to her he reached into the back of her dress, grabbing a hold of the chain and lifted it until the ruby, that appeared to have a blazed affect to it, was revealed "where, may I ask, did you get this?"   
"I gave it to her" Cassandra said "as a gift from one cousin to another"  
"Since when are you cousins?" Holmes asked   
"Since last week when I married Austin" Irene said retucking the necklace into her dress   
"He's the one who travels all the time right?" Watson asked   
"Yes" Becca said sitting down "he also doesn't like us very much because he believes we are unholy creatures"   
"So that's why there was no mention of a wedding?" Holmes asked  
"Nanna was the only one who was invited" Becca said smiling slightly  
"You might want to get back to Mary soon" Cassandra said looking at the doctor  
"Why?" Watson asked, eyes wide, a large amount of panic in his voice "what happened? Is Mary alright?"  
"I don't know but..." Cassandra said not even getting the chance to finish her sentence because Watson was already out the door "bye Watson"   
"How about a drink?" Irene asked   
"I could use one" Thomas said sitting down, resting his face in his palm   
"I'll get the wine and some glasses" Holmes offered before walking into the kitchen   
"Thank you" Thomas sighed   
"So" Irene said clearing her throat "you're the one who's managed to steal Holmes away from me?"  
"It appears I am" Thomas said knowing of her and Holmes past relationship "I hope this doesn't mean we can't be friends"  
"No not at all" Irene chuckled waving him off "I'm just happy you're not some seven foot tall muscle head and I do understand that he couldn't wait for me forever. So Becca how does it feel being a beard?"   
"It's the greatest feeling ever" Becca said as Holmes walked back in with five glasses and the bottle Becca had chugged before they left "and it will be even better when I get a baby"  
"I don't think being an unwed mother will look go for your reputation" Thomas said taking a glass  
"What reputation?" Becca asked taking the bottle from Holmes so she could fill up her own and Thomas' glass "I make a living preparing dead and unwanted corpses for funerals and then telling their families what their spirits have told me"   
"Ok your family's reputation"   
"Our family may be wealthy and held in high regards but" Cassandra said holding up her finger "everyone knows we are very different from them"  
"Plus Grandpa was a womanizer" Becca said   
"If any of you need me I'll be upstairs" Holmes said taking the drink Irene had poured for him  
"You coated the inside of his glass with something, didn't you?" Cassandra asked after Holmes was in his room  
"Maybe" Irene said smirking deviously   
Acceding the steps Holmes opened the door to his room, walking inside so he could look for the book he was given the first time he had encountered Blackwood. Taking a drink from his glass he placed it on the table and walked over to his bookshelf when he began feeling light headed. Steadying himself against the table Holmes wobbled along its edge until his legs gave out on him and he collapsed to the ground, the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was Beccas laugh from down stairs. Slowly his senses had finally began returning to him so he could tell he was no longer on the floor but sitting up, his arms restrained, and he was now naked. When his eyes had finally blinked open the door slowly opened and he prayed that it was Thomas who was coming in and not one of the twins.   
"Holmes?" Thomas asked walking in "Irene told me you had a surprise for me"  
"I believe she was the one who left you the surprise" Holmes said watching Thomas walk in front of the bed   
"That explains why she gave me this before she left" Thomas said pulling a key out of his pocket  
"At least she didn't hide it under a pillow that was on my lap this time" Holmes said as Thomas walked around the bed until he was next to the detective "would you mind?"  
"Hm, I don't thinks so" Thomas said smiling running a finger down Holmes bare chest "I like you like this"  
"Come now Thomas" Holmes said slightly annoyed "do you know how tired I am of waking up in handcuffs"  
"It has only happened once before" Thomas said taking off his jacket "but I do believe I owe you for being so well behaved at lunch today"  
"Really" Holmes said his interest peaked "what is my reward?"  
"You'll see" Thomas smirked seductively, slowly taking off the rest of his clothing as Holmes watched his every movement like a hawk  
Once he was fully naked as well Thomas joined Holmes on the bed positioning himself on the detectives lap resting his forehead against the others, before pulling him into a kiss. Nipping at the detectives lip Thomas silently asked for entrance, which was granted to him, their lips moving together as he slipped his tongue into Holmes mouth, exploring the wet cavern as the detective gently rubbed his tongue against his lover's. Moving away from Holmes mouth Thomas planted kisses along his cheek, down to his neck and shoulder. Feeling satisfied he leaned back, reaching over to the bedside drawer so he could pull out a small vial of liquid. Getting off Holmes lap Thomas sat back on his knees, keeping his ass slightly in the air, popping the lid off of the vial he poured its contents onto his fingers before slipping them inside himself. Panting heavily Thomas buried his face into his lover's neck as he began thrusting his fingers in and out of his hole, stretching himself out. Holmes was desperate to watch as Thomas' fingers disappeared inside him only to reappear seconds later, he was in luck however because someone had placed a mirror in front of his desk and with the way it had been angled he was able to see everything the baron was doing. After a few more minutes of stretching Thomas removed his fingers, grabbing a hold of Holmes hardened cock, pumping it in his hand as he coated it with the remaining liquid that was on his hand, so he could line it up with his entrance. Slowly he lowered himself until he was penetrated, taking a moment to adjust before he began moving. Groaning Holmes bit his lip, wanting nothing more than to touch Thomas as the baron rode him.  
"Thomas" Holmes whispered getting the attention of his lover "uncuff me. I want to touch you"   
"I don't remember where I dropped it" Thomas panted feeling his climax approaching   
"Then give me your hands"   
Without hesitation Thomas lifted his hands up to Holmes, interlocking their fingers together as their lips reconnected in a sloppy kiss. In the mix of meshing of lips, teeth, and tongues both Holmes and Thomas reached their climax leaving them both panting in the mess they had made. Downstairs Becca and Cassandra had long since said goodbye to Irene and were still sitting in the living area.  
"Tonight is a waning moon and when sunrise comes it will be the day of a half moon" Becca stated looking out the window  
"You're sure there isn't anything we can do?" Cassandra asked   
"He'll never stop. If it's not this month then it'll be next" Becca said  
After Watson had heard what Cassandra had said he immediately ran to the home Mary was a governess at. When he arrived at the house he saw that Mary was outside ready to go home.  
"Mary!" Watson called out running up to his wife   
"John" Mary said, happily surprised "what are you doing here?"   
"Cassandra told me I needed to get back to you" Watson panted   
"Why?" Mary asked taking her husband's hand  
"She wasn't sure. Then again I didn't really stay long after she said that" Watson said rubbing the back of his neck   
"Aw" Mary said hugging his arm "you worry about me"   
"Oh course I do" Watson said   
"How about we go for a walk on the pier" Mary suggested  
"That sounds like a wonderful idea" Watson said   
By the time the two had made it down to the river the sun was beginning to set, casting the sky in various shades of yellow, orange, and purple. As they walked along Mary noticed a woman, dressed all in black, kneeling by the edge of the pier apparently crying.  
"John look" Mary said pointing out the woman "we should see what's wrong"  
"It appears as though she has lost a loved one at sea" Watson said as Mary slowly approached the crying woman   
"Excuse me ma'am" Mary said gently, kneeling down next to the woman "but are you alright?"  
"Yes" the woman whispered facing Mary slightly raising her hand to her face so she could cough into it "thank you for your concern. You are very kind"   
"Are you sure?" Mary asked as the woman got up   
"Yes thank you" the woman said walking away   
"Goodbye" Mary said as her husband joined her   
"What did she say" Watson asked turning to face Mary, his back to where the woman had just walked  
"She said she was fine and thanked me for..." Mary said before her eyes became wide and unfocused   
"Mary. Mary!" Watson exclaimed grabbing a hold of her shoulders "are you alright? What's wrong?" as he was about to try and examine Mary when someone came up behind him, covering his mouth and nose with an either smelling cloth. Collapsing to the ground Watson tried to reach out for Mary but none of his limbs were working, but as he beginning to black out he could have sworn it was Lucille who ran off with his wife. When Watson awoke he was in a hospital bed with Holmes and Thomas sitting on the left side of his bed, both of them looking very worried.   
"What happened?" Watson asked sitting up, rubbing his head "where's Mary is she alright?"  
"Calm down Watson" Thomas said adjusting a pillow behind the doctor's back   
"We don't know" Holmes said waiting for his friend to relax a bit "Lestrade came to our door this morning and told us you were here and Rebecca told him she'd been kidnaped so she is being looked for"  
"It was the strangest thing" Watson said leaning back "I could have sworn Lucille was the one who took Mary"  
"How could it be her?" Thomas asked furrowing his brows, Holmes placing a hand atop his own "she's gone"  
"I did see her as I was losing consciousness so it's possible my eyes were playing tricks on me" Watson said as Lestrade walked in  
"Glad to see you're up Doctor" Lestrade said taking off his hat "none of you would happened to know where Miss Rebecca is, do you?"  
"She's at work" Holmes said  
"That's what I was afraid of" Lestrade sighed  
"Afraid of dead bodies Inspector?" Holmes asked standing up   
"Why are you looking for her?" Thomas asked   
"Cassandra has gone missing as well. In our search for Mary several people had stop us to say that they had witnessed Mary and a woman fitting Lucilles description taking her at sunrise this morning"  
"We can tell Becca for you" Watson said getting out of his hospital bed   
"Thank you" Lestrade said leaving   
"What's going on?" Thomas asked getting out of the chair he was sitting in  
"I don't know" Holmes said wrapping an arm around his shoulder   
The funeral home both Becca and Cassandra worked at was one of the best within the city, but the room Becca worked in was kinda small with just enough room for a table for the cadaver to lay on, a sink, a desk and chair by the window, and a cabinet in the corner. Even with the limited space she had managed to make it her own with white sage burning in every corner of the room as well as by the cadaver table, a few books on her desk, and a window that was always open. Currently she was working on a middle aged man who had been viciously stabbed to death while he was incarcerated for a crime his family firmly believes he didn't commit.   
Sighing dejectedly Becca began washing the blood and grime off of his body with a wet soapy cloth, feeling the emotions he'd felt when he died. She knew he had been falsely accused, he trusted the man who murdered him, and because of all of this his spirit was still trapped in the jail forced to relive this event everyday. While she was cleaning the body all of her burning sage had gone out and the window was blown shut. Knowing what was to come Becca placed the cloth back in the bowl she had been using and waited for Blackwood to reveal himself.  
"Hello my Queen of the Dead" Blackwood said emerging from the shadows  
"Blackwood" Becca said calmly walking over to her desk to open the window back up "what brings you here?" while she was still by her desk she grabbed her matches  
"You know why I am here my dear" Blackwood said watching Becca very closely as she relit the sage before walking behind her, close enough so she could feel his body heat on her back and his breath on her ear as he whispered into it "I need you. With your powers we can have everybody bowing down to us in fear"  
"That's not what I want" Becca said dropping the lit match in the bowl of water she had been using "I am quite happy with the way my life is now" she turned around hoping to be able to push past him "but that doesn't matter to you now does it. All you want is power and the blood of a twin"  
"Just because I need her blood doesn't mean she has to die" Blackwood said using his arms to keep Becca trapped against the dead body table "she just needs to bleed"   
"But it's more powerful if she does die" Becca said as Blackwood grabbed her chin, making her look him in the eyes  
"Or if you willingly take part" Blackwood said as footsteps came towards the door "until the waxing moon my dear"   
"Becca" Holmes said knocking on the other side of the door "is it safe to come in"  
"One second" Becca said, Blackwood having disappeared the moment Holmes knocked on the door, taking a towel to cover the dead mans genitals "ok"   
"Woman" Holmes said after he opened the door "you told me it was safe. There is a body on that table"  
"He's decent" Becca said waiting for him, Thomas, and Watson to come in "you know about Lucille don't you?"  
"Yeah" Thomas said leaning against Holmes side most likely for some form of emotional support   
"You knew about all this didn't you?" Watson asked wanting to help as Holmes lead Thomas to the chair, unsure if he should   
"It won't change anything if I do or don't" Becca sighed walking over to the window "Lucille and Mary will remain unharmed but Blackwood will keep them until the ritual is complete"  
"Who's next?" Holmes asked holding Thomas' hand   
"Irene. Three days from today on the next full moon at noon" Becca said causing the detective to flinch slightly, it was true that what was between him and Irene was over and done with but, like with Thomas and his sister, he still cared for the woman   
"And then you will be next?" Holmes asked as Thomas noticed the stack of papers on the desk "what can we do?"  
"Let things play out until I am taken and try to get to the building the ritual is before the next new moon" Becca said as Thomas grabbed the papers to read them   
"When will you be taken?" Watson asked   
"At sunrise on the waxing moon"   
"This is Ediths book" Thomas said taking a closer look at the hand writing "and her handwriting. Is she here?"  
"At home" Becca said noticing that Thomas looked like he was about to cry "are you ok?"   
Placing a hand on her friend's shoulder Becca was able to feel everything he was feeling; confusion about everything that was going on, worry for his sister, denial because he didn't want to believe Lucille was helping Blackwood, the fear of what might happen to the people he loved, and regret because he was just reminded about how he sat back and let Edith be murdered, allowing Lucille to burn the story he had enjoyed reading and Edith had worked so hard on. It was too much for Thomas to handle all at once and he broke down sobbing, burying his face in his hands. Feeling a wave of worry and concern pass through him Holmes was immediately in front of his lover, removing the hands from his pale face so he was able to look into Thomas' tear filled eyes. The two looked into each others eyes as Holmes gently grabbed Thomas face, pulling him closer so he could kiss the tears away as they fell from his loves eyes. Sniffing the baron gave a small smile, feeling slightly better at the attention he was getting and stood up to give the detective a hug.   
"Do you feel better?" Holmes asked returning the hug  
"Here" Watson said handing Thomas his hankie   
"Thank you" Thomas said taking the hankie, whipping the remaining tears from his eyes  
"MORT!" Becca yelled down the hall, startling everyone   
"What?" a man, most likely Mort, yelled back   
"I need you to finish preparing Robert" Becca said grabbing the black hooded cloak she wore as a jacket and Ediths book "I need to help Thomas"   
"Ok" Mort said   
"Let's go home and get you something to help you calm down" Becca said walking over to Thomas noticing that there was no faint outline of a crescent moon, but a full one "shit"   
"What?" Watson asked joining Becca by the window  
"Apparently the forces that be have decided that tonight will be a full moon" Becca said pointing out the faint moon even though she knew she was the only one who saw it   
"How?" Watson asked not believing what Becca had just said   
"I don't know" Becca shrugged "magic, maybe"  
"You're sure we can't stop this?" Holmes asked   
"Not until he has everything he needs"  
As noon rolled around Irene was walking along the gypsy part of the city looking for the store she had been hired to rob. Looking down at the sheet of paper she read off the list of what she needed; the tooth of a lion, the bone of an ox, feather of an eagle, five medieval goblets, and a bag of herbs. Finding the store she was looking for Irene hid the paper in her bag before walking into the building, looking around so she could map out where everything she needed was as well as all of the places she could use to make a quick escape.   
"No wonder they want me to steal this stuff" Irene mused to herself as she looked at the prices   
"Hello ma'am" the owner of the store greeted her "can I help you"   
"No" Irene said addressing the man "I'm just looking right now, but if I need you I'll ask"  
Once she was positive the owner was no longer paying attention to her, she began taking the items that were on the list. It was easy to grab everything and slip it into her bag or skirt except for the goblets, they were securely locked in a glass case.   
"Excuse me" Irene said getting the store owners attention "but would it be too much trouble if I could take a look at these goblets?"  
"Not at all ma'am" the store owner said opening the glass doors  
"Thank you" Irene said slipping her baton out of her sleeve   
As the store owners back was turned to her, Irene raiser the baton over her head so she could bring it down on the back of his head. After he had collapsed to the ground she quickly grabbed the goblets and left the building as casually as she had walked in, confident that no one was going to stop her. Making sure everything was safely tucked away Irene headed for the spot she had agreed to meet with her employers.   
"Hold on" Becca said stopping the baron, detective, and doctor a block away from the apartment "is that Irene?" she pointed to a woman on the other side of the street   
"I believe so" Holmes said squinting at the woman in question "I thought you said she would be taken at noon"  
"It is noon" Becca said her voice no more than a whisper handing the papers she was carrying to Thomas   
"Should we follow her?" Holmes whispered even though he and Becca were already making their way to the other side of the street   
"Should we follow them?" Thomas asked watching them walk across the street  
"No" Watson said   
"Alright" Thomas said as he and Watson continued for the apartment   
Creeping behind Irene as she turned down an alleyway Holmes and Becca hid behind a stack of crates and watched as the thief approached two hooded figures.  
"Did you get the items we asked for?" the figure on the left asked pulling off her hood, revealing herself to be Lucille  
"Yes" Irene said pulling out everything she had taken "now about my payment?"  
"In time" Lucille said as the other one removed her hood as well, revealing Cassandra "right now we have one more thing we need of you"  
"Why are two here?" Becca whispered not noticing the man that stood behind them   
"Because Irene is a fighter" Holmes whispered as Irene began coughing slightly  
"Why are you spying on Cassandra?" the man asked, scaring the ever living shit out of Holmes and Becca, causing them both to bump into the crates, the glass inside gently clinking against each other  
"Dammit Eric!" Becca exclaimed punching the boxes behind her "you scared the life outta me"   
"Sorry" Eric apologized, he looked like Chris Hemsworth with shoulder length blond hair, had a beard growing on his face, and large muscles hidden under his sweat soaked slightly grey long sleeved shirt that was also partially hidden by a brown vest and matching pants, as Lucille and Cassandra walked over to them  
"She's got her meat cleaver!" Becca practically shrieked sensing several thing that were about to happen "and the crates are gonna fall! And someone's gonna get punched in the face!"   
Just as Becca had said the crates had began swaying and were soon falling onto Lucille and Cassandra. Grabbing ahold of Becca Holmes pulled her with him as he dove into the street and shielded her from the broken wood and shards of glass, even though he really didn't need to, as they bounced off the ground. Raising an arm above his head Eric blocked the falling crates as he pulled Cassandra to him until she was pressed up against his body so he could protect her from the wood and glass that was falling on them while Lucille backed away out of harm's reach. When the chaos had settled and pieces of broken wood and shattered glass littered the ground everyone who had been in the middle of it looked around to make sure they had no injuries to themselves.   
"Cassandra" Eric said placing a hand on her cheek "are you alright?"   
Cassandra didn't respond she just gently pushed away from him, looking him in the eyes before raising her fist, punching him in the cheek with enough force to turn his head to the side. Groaning quietly Eric placed one hand on his cheek and used the other to block Cassandras second punch leaving himself open for Lucille to whack him in the gut with the dull end of her meat cleaver. Grunting in pain the huntsman dropped to his knees, wrapping both arms around his midsection giving the two women who had attacked him, plus Irene, a chance to escape. As Erice was getting back to his feet Becca and Holmes walked over to him, helping him to his feet as they walked him back to their apartment  
"What's wrong with Cassandra?" Eric asked as they began walking "is she ill? Was that other woman threatening her life?"   
"Calm down" Becca said as they reached the steps to the apartment "I'll explain after Watson checks to see if Lucille broke any of your ribs"   
"So what happened?" Thomas asked after Becca, Eric, and Holmes walked into the apartment  
"Cassandra punched him in the face" Becca said leading Eric to a chair "and then Lucille sucker cleaved him in the gut"   
"Oh" Thomas said, wincing slightly at the imagined pain, as Watson walked out of the kitchen carrying a tray of tea "punched by your girlfriend"   
Just like with the beginning of Holmes and Thomas' relationship Eric and Cassandras had to be a secret, mostly because Eric worked as a farm hand for her little sister, Stephanies, horse stables and the man she had managing it was always hard on all of his workers. Though after the first year of their relationship had passed the two had decided to make the relationship public to Cassandras family and neither the huntsman or the twin psychic could have been any happier. They were even considering having him move into one of the two empty rooms left in Grandma's apartment. However after having his wife die some years ago Eric had become a bit protective over Cassandra and because of all of this he was probably living his worst nightmare.   
"Take off your shirt" Becca said taking the tray from Watson, placing it down on the table "I want to see if it's started bruising or not"   
"Alright" Eric said wincing slightly as he pulled his vest and shirt over his head "but you better explain what's happening"  
"I will. Now how do I start" Becca said taking a moment to think things over "there is a legend that states a person can obtain great power if you are able to get five women. One who is insane, one who is kind, one who is a thief, and one with the power to of foresight and is able to see the dead"  
"Lucille, Mary, Irene, and you?" Thomas asked   
"Yes and Cassandra was taken because the blood of a twin is also needed. Eric calm down!" Becca said knowing Eric was about to begin freaking out, and he was, all she could see in his eyes was pure rage "she doesn't have to die. He just needs her blood. It is also believed that these women represent an element of nature and its corresponding direction on a compass. You know north, south, east, and west"   
"So Blackwood needs you to stand in a certain order and use their energy to accomplish whatever it is he's trying to do" Holmes said   
"Yes" Becca said finally looking at Erics abdomen "you're going to have a bruise. Watson how do you check for cracked ribs?"  
"Feel around his chest for any abnormalities" Watson said as there was a loud bang in the kitchen   
"What was that?" Thomas asked as everyone looked towards the kitchen   
"Becca go check it out" Holmes said   
"Why are you sending her?" Watson asked  
"Because if she is taken then we can follow who will most likely be Lucille" Holmes said as he and Eric crept behind Becca so they could follow her as she walked up to the kitchen door   
"Edith's the only one in there" Becca said swinging open the door   
"Maybe they're watching from a distance" Holmes said looking around the kitchen   
"They're not though" Becca said walking up to the now opened kitchen window, closing it   
"Then what was that bang?" Eric asked walking up to the psychic "and who is Edith?"   
"My dead wife" Thomas said walking into the kitchen  
"Dead wife?" Eric asked slightly confused   
"She followed him from Crimson Peak" Becca said pulling a balled up piece of paper out of the sink as realization hit, causing her to gasp in excitement "Crimson Peak. One of us need to have a connection to the location the rituals is being held at"  
"But what is he trying to accomplish?" Holmes asked taking the piece of paper from Becca, reading over it "obviously something involving the dead"   
"Why do you believe that?" Thomas asked   
"Because he wanted Irene to steal items that belong to a sphinx. A figure associated with the dead"   
"How do you know this was meant for Irene?" Watson asked finally walking in, a cup of tea in hand  
"This is your wife's handwriting. Is it not?" Holme asked holding out the paper   
"It is" Watson sighed taking a sip from the cup   
"Why else would Edith be throwing things into the house?" Becca said  
"Now we know where and why he's doing this the only thing left is how is he controlling them" Holmes asked lighting up his pipe "Becca?"   
"Don't look at me" Becca said holding up her hands defensively "I don't know how he's doing this"   
"Then how are we supposed to figure this out then?" Eric asked   
"Books" Becca shrugged   
"Alright" Holmes said clapping his hands together "everyone up stairs"   
"While you do that" Eric said walking back into the living area so he could put his shirt and vest back on "I'll be..."   
"Sniffing Cassandra's clothing" Becca interrupted walking past the huntsman   
"I was but you ruined it" Eric chuckled "so now I'm going to walk around town and see if I can find them"   
"You're missing the perfect opportunity" Becca said shaking her head, a bemused smile on her face as she opened the front door  
"I'll have plenty more opportunities" Eric said walking onto the front stoop "while she's still wearing them"  
"What was that?" Becca asked Eric but he was already waving good bye and walking down the steps  
Chuckling Becca closed the door and followed the others up the steps to her room. When they entered Beccas bed room it was noticeable cooler than the rest of the apartment and looked similar to Holmes in the sense that it had a large amount of seemingly random witch like stuff littering the top of her table, dresser, and bookshelf while the desk by the window only had a stack of papers and a few pens on it while a hammock hung next to it.   
"Why is it always so cold in your room?" Holmes asked  
"Think back to Crimson Peak" Becca said taking a seat at her desk  
"Edith?" Watson asked raising an eyebrow   
"That's why the hammock's here" Becca said going back to writing for Edith  
"How much longer until you're done?" Thomas asked pulling up a chair next to Becca  
"No idea" Becca said letting Thomas take papers so he could read them "someone keeps adding and revising stuff" she turned to look at the slightly swaying hammock "shut up"  
"What did she say?" Thomas asked  
"None-a-ya damn business" Becca said going back to writing  
"If I didn't know you as well as I do I'd swear you needed to be locked up somewhere" Holmes said grabbing a book on magic off of the bookshelf   
"I don't think any place would want her" Watson said grabbing a book on plants  
"Thanks" Becca said rolling her eyes  
After a few hours and several books later Holmes was able to locate three possibilities as to how Blackwood could be controlling their friends while Watson only found one.  
"So what have you found?" Watson asked placing the pen he'd been writing with down   
"I have" Holmes said putting down the books he'd been reading "but they all need to be ingested and I didn't see them give Irene anything to drink"   
"I found a plant that you can ground into an odorless and tasteless powder and blow it in someone's face that can cause suggestibility and amnesia" Watson said  
"Devils breath?" Thomas asked looking up from what he was reading  
"Scopolamine?" Watson asked earning a shrug from the baron  
"Ear-ics at the door" Becca said   
"I thought he would've stayed out for more than a few hours" Holmes said leaning back in his seat  
"Maybe he's found something" Thomas said   
"I'll get it" Holmes said getting up so he could walk down the three flights of stairs to the front door   
When the detective reached the ground floor there was a knock on the door, so he open it to Eric, who looked like he wasn't mentally together, on the other side of the door.  
"Bloody hell" Holmes sighed knowing that Eric had been put under whatever Blackwood had used to control the women  
Growling Eric stepped into the apartment and grabbed Holmes by the neck, lifting him into the air so he could throw the detective across the room. Letting out a startled squeak Holmes hit the wall and landed on top of a small table knocking the picture frame and vase off of it. Groaning he tumbled off of the table and onto the shattered remains of the vase and was swiftly kicked in the gut by the huntsman. Grabbing a hold of the other mans leg Holmes bit into his ankle causing him to cry out and stumble back a few steps. Rolling away the detective got to his feet just in time to dodge the several swings that were made at him before kicking Eric in his bruised area, knocking him to the ground. Breathing heavily Eric wrapped an arm around his bruises and slowly got back up, glaring death at Holmes. Growling Eric was about to launch himself at Holmes when something came and smacked the huntsman in the face leaving behind a faint red, woman sized, handprint on his beard that almost instantly faded away.  
"Ow!" Eric said rubbing his face "wait how did I get here?"   
"You just attacked me" Holmes said as Becca, Thomas, and Watson came down the steps   
"What broke?" Watson asked   
"That ugly vase" Becca said walking over to the shattered porcelain kicking it   
"What happened down here?" Thomas asked noticing the dust on his lover's back  
"Eric attacked me when I opened the door" Holmes said checking his nose to see if it was bleeding   
"I don't remember any of that" Eric said letting Becca lead him over to a chair  
"What was the last thing you remember then?" Watson asked widening Eric's eyelids so he could get a better look at his eyes  
"Uh" Eric said rubbing his eyes with his pointer finger and thumb "I was walking down an alleyway and then I heard voices, so I went to investigate and I saw that woman who hit me with the meat cleaver and a guy in all black talking to each other"  
"What was he saying?" Watson asked continuing examining him   
"I don't really remember" Eric said wincing as Watson felt around his covered chest "but he didn't seem very interested in her and when they saw me some white powder stuff blew into my face and the next thing I know I'm back here, but now that I think more about it. I think Bucky may have also been there"   
Bucky was the final tenant in the building next door.   
"That wouldn't surprise me" Becca sighed pinching the bridge of her nose   
Unlike his other two housemates Bucky was a hired hand who never asked questions when it came to the jobs he would accept. Which was very risky considering he was in a committed relationship Steve.  
"Does this mean we have to arrest him?" Thomas asked   
"Depends on what he tells us" Becca said as there was a knock on the door before it was opened  
"Has Eric gotten here yet?" Bucky asked walking in, he looked like Sebastian Stan with shoulder length brown hair that was pulled back at the nape of his neck in a ponytail and a five o'clock shadow on his face and only ever wore black clothing  
"What is your part in all of this?" Becca asked, arms crossed across her chest  
"Blackwood just wanted me to track down a few people for him" Bucky said holding up his hands defensively   
"How many people did you find?" Holmes asked   
"Lord Coward and a really big guy named Dredger" Bucky said noticing Holmes inhaling sharply through his nostrils "what?"   
"Dredger was the one who destroyed the dock and got Watson and I thrown in jail" Holmes said  
"I didn't know that" Bucky said as Steve burst through the door carrying his choking partner over his shoulder   
"What happened?" Watson asked  
"I'm not sure" Steve said placing his partner on the ground "we just encountered Blackwood and the next thing I know Joe is suffocating"  
"I don't have any of my tools" Watson said patting down all of his pockets   
"I do" Bruce said walking through the front door   
"Great" Watson said as he and Bruce got on their knees around Joe  
"It looks like his throat is closing up" Bruce said after he used a tongue depressor in Joes mouth  
"Do you have your scalpel?" Watson asked disinfecting the center of Joes neck   
"Here" Bruce said pulling the scalpel out of the bag, using it to slice open an airway  
Once there was an alternate opening Watson stuck a tube in it so Joe would be able to breath again.  
"What happened in here?" Mrs. Hudson asked, having walked in the through the kitchen  
"That's not important right now" Watson said as he and Bruce helped Joe to his feet "right now we need you to find someone who can get him to the hospital"   
"Alright" Mrs. Hudson said helping Joe outside  
"So are you going back to working for Blackwood?" Becca asked   
"Only because I'm worried about what he might try and do to you" Bucky said   
"What did you do?" Steve asked   
"Blackwood hired me to find people that's it" Bucky said  
"But why are you worried about Becca?" Thomas asked   
"Because of the way Blackwood was talking about her" Bucky said taking a moment to put his feelings to words "it was really rapey"  
"What!" Everyone in the room, but Becca, exclaimed  
"That's why I don't want to quit yet" Bucky said "I'm afraid of what he might do to her"  
"What should we do then?" Bruce asked   
"I don't think there should be a we" Holmes said as Mrs. Hudson walked back in "just me, Watson, and Bucky"  
"No" Steve said narrowing his eyes slightly "we're in this together' he wrapped his arms around Becca "especially when it comes to Beccas precious flower"   
"What about her flower?" Mrs. Hudson asked going into protective parent mode "who's threatening her virtue. Did it already happen to Cassandra? Is that why she's gone?"  
"Ok Nana" Becca said placing both her hands on Mrs. Hudsons shoulders "I'll be fine. Bucky'll be with me, nothing is going to happen"  
"Really?" Mrs. Hudson asked eyeballing Bucky   
"Swear on my life" Bucky said raising his right hand  
"Can I trust him?" Mrs. Hudson asked Steve  
"On this you can" Steve said   
"Alright" Mrs. Hudson said "but if anything happens to either of them then you are outta here"  
"Understandable" Bucky said   
"We need to come up with a plan" Holmes said lighting up his pipe "has Blackwood added anything to the Allerdale manor?"   
"Uh" Bucky said scratching his head "he spent several months renovating the building and he put in a secret passages so he can make a quick escape"   
"So you lead us in through there and so we can stop him" Holmes said   
"What about Lestrade and his men?" Steve asked   
"Leave him a note saying to be at Crimson Peak at one p.m. tomorrow" Becca said   
"Ok" Steve said looking around for some paper  
"So" Bucky said pressing his lips together "who wants to help me carry some dead weight at sunrise?"   
Rebecca was the exact opposite of a morning person, she had to wake up early just so she had time to motivate herself to get out of bed.  
"No" Eric said knowing he was the one Bucky was talking about   
"I'm not that heavy" Becca said jabbing a finger into Buckys side  
"That's why I said dead weight" Bucky said rubbing his side  
After the team had finished finalizing their plan Steve went down to Scotland Yard so he could give Lestrade the details for his half of the plan. As night fell Becca went to sleep while the men made a quick sweep of the apartment before going back to the places they belonged. No one was able to get much sleep that night, everyone was too nervous about what was going to happen when sunrise came. When it finally came Bucky was already up and ready, giving Steve a kiss on his forehead before heading out the door.   
"Are you ready Bucky?" Lucille asked, both her and Dredger standing on the sidewalk, a carriage behind them  
"Yeah" Bucky said as they walked up the stairs to Beccas half of the apartment "I just need to get a bucket of ice water"   
"Why?" Lucille asked as Bucky opened the door  
"Because Rebecca sleeps like the dead and will not wake up until she's ready" Bucky said walking into the kitchen and pulled out the largest pot, filling it to the top with ice water "so I'm going to be a dick"   
Lifting the pot out of the sink Bucky walked up the stairs to Beccas room, trying not to spill any water as he did. Lucille and Dredger were following Bucky closely until they passed Thomas room.  
"I'll catch up with you" Lucille said opening Thomas and Holmes door  
"Please don't kill Holmes" Bucky said looking back at the baroness "both Holmes and I already put Mrs. Hudson through enough shit. She doesn't need to have a bloody room added to the list. You can kill him after all of this is over"  
"Alright" Lucille said waiting for her two partners to disappear before she slipped into her brothers room  
"When we get inside I'm going to need your help dumping the water on her" Bucky said opening Beccas bedroom door   
"Won't the commotion wake the others?" Dredger asked in French as Bucky turned on the lights   
"It won't matter" Bucky said walking over to the bed "she knows what's going on and probably did something to make sure they don't wake up. Now get over here and help me dump this on her"   
"Alright" Dredger sighed grabbing the left handle of the pot  
"On three. One. Two. Wake up!" Bucky said as he and Dredger dumped to ice cold water onto Becca, who let out startled scream as she shot up "morning"   
Groaning Becca flopped back down on her bed and tried to pull the covers back over her head, but Bucky had already pulled them off of her. After a few minutes Bucky and Dredger had managed to persuade Becca out of bed. Meaning they pulled her off of her bed.  
"Get out" Becca said as Bucky pulled the wet bed sheets off of the bed  
"Why?" Bucky asked placing the wet sheets on a table  
"Because she needs to change out of the wet dress so she doesn't catch her death" Dredger said dragging Bucky out of the room  
"Thank you Dredger" Becca said, in French, slipping out of her wet night dress   
Once she was fully naked Becca grabbed one of a spare night gown and used it to dry off the water that was still on her before slipping on her normal dress.   
"Becca" Lucille said knocking on the door "are you ready?"  
"Yeah" Becca yawned walking out of her room  
"Wait where were you?" Bucky asked Lucille   
"Oh, just no where" Lucille said causing both Becca and Bucky to raise an eyebrow at her as she looked away from them innocently 

Down stairs in Holmes and Thomas' room, during the time Lucille was missing, Holmes had been woken by Beccas scream. Slowly the detective opened his eyes and saw Lucille standing next to the bed staring down at him. Having a moment of panic he tried to get up, but his limbs weren't listening to him and he, ungracefully, fell off of the bed. Groaning quietly Holmes rubbed the elbow he smacked off the floor, looking around for Lucille, not finding her anywhere.  
"Holmes" Thomas said groggily, looking over the side of the bed "what are you doing on the floor?"   
"Lucille was just here" Holmes said crawling back onto the bed  
"It was just a dream" Thomas said resting his head on Holmes chest after he was back in bed   
"Did you not hear Becca scream?" Holmes asked placing his hand on Thomas' back  
"Go back to sleep" Thomas murmured burying his face in the detective's chest 

"Grab her and lets go" Bucky said not taking his eyes off of Lucille   
"But..." Dredger tried to say  
"I will fall down the stairs if someone doesn't carry me" Becca said walking over to Dredger "it's too early for this shit"   
"Alright" Dredger said throwing Becca over his shoulder  
"Let's get out of here" Lucille said hearing commotion coming from Cassandras room   
"Who's in there?" Bucky asked   
"We're not sticking around long enough to find out" Dredger said walking down the stairs  
"You probably can" Lucille said following the Frenchman   
"No" Bucky said watching Eric peek out of Cassandra's room out of the corner of his eye "Holmes'll figure everything out"  
"Don't say that name" Lucille growled, glaring back at Bucky  
"Sorry" Bucky apologized, following down the stairs  
When they got outside Dredger placed Becca back on the ground, helping her and Lucille into the carriage before he got in and Bucky took the reins. Standing hidden behind the curtains, Eric watched the carriage ride off before slipping back upstairs to tell everyone it was time. About halfway up the stairs Eric saw that Thomas, Holmes, and Watson were already up and dressed making their way downstairs.   
"Are Bruce and Steve here yet?" Watson asked   
"Not yet" Eric said as they got back to the ground floor "but Bucky should have woken Steve up before he left"  
"Hopefully he woke Bruce up and they're already outside" Holmes said as they walked out the front door "and they're not" grabbing a hold of the railing that separated the two porches Holmes jumped it before knocking on the door "you ready"   
"Yeah" Holmes heard Bruce say from the other side if the door "just give Steve a second to get down the steps. Here he is"   
"Then get out here so we can go" Holmes said as the door opened and the trio walked down the stairs  
"How are we supposed to get to Allderdale?" Steve asked   
"I've already talked to Steph and she said we could borrow as many horses as we need to get her sisters back" Eric said as they started walking north   
About twenty minutes later they reached the edge of town and Stephanies stables. Walking up to the main building Eric opened a hidden slot that was above the doorframe, pulling out a large ring that had a copy of every key attached to it. Unlocking the door Eric, Holmes, and Steve walked in so they could each grab two saddles before leading everyone to the back where the stables where Beccas families horses were held.   
"Does it matter which ones we take?" Holmes asked putting the two saddles he was carrying onto the horses he was closest to   
"No" Eric said also putting the saddles he was holding onto two horses "all the horses back here belong to the family"   
"How long will it take us to get to your old home?" Steve asked finishing saddling the last horse   
"About four hours" Thomas said as Holmes helped him onto the horse he had chosen "thanks"  
"Let's go" Holmes said once everyone was on a horse   
"Lead the way Thomas" Bruce said   
"Ok" Thomas said getting his horse to move   
Speeding through the streets of London and along the abandoned road Bucky made it to Crimson Peak in a little less than three hours.  
"Are we dead?" Lucille asked when the carriage came to an abrupt stop, she looked over a Becca who was fast asleep "how did she sleep through all of that?"   
"Wha-?" Becca asked waking up   
"Thank you for joining us" Lucille said as Dredger opened the door  
"What ever" Becca burped, her eyes half opened as she and Lucille got out of the carriage   
"Very lady like" Bucky said getting down from the rein seat  
"Fuck you" Becca said as they walked up to the front door "I just woke up and I feel gross"  
"You can take a bath in my room before the ritual" Lucille said opening the door  
The inside of the house no longer had a large amount of rubble filling the hall and everything did look like it had recently rebuilt, excluding the hole that was originally in the ceiling and everything felt much colder and there was just a feeling of dread that filled the air.   
"Welcome Rebecca" Lord Coward greeted turning away from Blackwood, who he had been speaking to "so glad you could join us"   
"Yes it is quite a pleasure" Blackwood said, everyone noticing the look he was giving Becca   
"Let's go upstairs" Lucille said placing both of her hands of the psychics shoulders leading her up the steps   
"I'll be outside" Bucky said walking back out the door   
Once the two women were upstairs Lucille made sure they were out of sight before she hugged Becca.  
"I'm so sorry" Lucille whispered "I only helped him because he threatened to kill Thomas. I would never want to put you or Cassy in this situation" she began to sob into Beccas shoulder  
"No one blames you" Becca said comforting the baroness "everyone's very worried about you. Even Holmes"   
"Why?" Lucille asked "I tried to kill him. Twice!"  
"Because he loves Thomas and Thomas loves you" Becca said "and Holmes'll do whatever it takes to make sure the few people he loves are happy"   
"But..." Lucille said looking up at her friend   
"Everyone knows you've been getting better" Becca said wiping the tears from Lucilles face "we all want you to be safe"  
"How're we going to get out of this?"   
"Thomas and the others are on their way" Becca whispered "for now let's just act like nothing's happening"   
"Ok" Lucille sniffed leading Becca up to the third floor   
Once they got to the third floor Lucille opened the door to her room Becca was immediately swarmed by Mary and Irene.  
"Thank God you're alright" Mary said hugging Becca   
"So what now?" Irene asked "we just sit around and wait to die"   
"The others are on their way" Cassandra said looking out the window  
"But when will they get here?" Irene asked   
"As the ritual is beginning" Becca said walking over to her twin   
"But they won't be able to do much" Cassandra said   
"At first" Becca added   
"Why?" Mary asked, brows furrowed   
"Because Blackwood is going to use the power you have over them" Becca sighed walking over to a desk, opening one of its drawers   
"He's going to make me kill my John?" Mary asked   
"Yes" Becca said pulling out a bracelet made out of blond hair   
"What are you doing?" Irene asked watching Becca slip the bracelet on her wrist  
"Don't worry about it" Cassandra said as there was a knock on the door   
"Who is it?" Irene asked, going on the offensive  
"Dredger ma'am"  
"What do you want?" Irene demanded   
"I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable" Dredger said   
"Could you do me a favor and get some clay from one of the wells in the basement?" Becca asked  
"Of course" Dredger said   
"Thank you" Becca said listening as the heavy footsteps vanished

After four hours of riding Holmes and the others arrived at Allderdale, tying up the horses behind the wall before Eric and Steve poked their heads out from behind the wall, through the opened gate. Looking for anyone who may have been outside, only finding Bucky. Giving the signal that everything was safe Eric was the first to creep out from behind the wall.  
"You guys ready?" Bucky asked   
"Yeah" Steve said as they followed Bucky around the back of the manor  
"Wait at the bottom of the steps and I'll go unlock the door on the inside" Bucky said before disappearing   
"Dammit" Holmes said feeling his pockets "I forgot my gun"  
"Yes. You did" Thomas said pulling the missing gun out of his pocket   
"Thank you" Holmes said taking the gun, giving the barron a kiss on the cheek   
"Nice to see you're just as forgetful as always" Watson said 

Back inside the manor Bucky bypassed Blackwood and Coward as they were setting up for the ritual and made his way down to the basement. Stepping off of the elevator he walked over to where the hidden door was, unlocking it, when he heard someone else walking around down there with him.   
"Who's there?" Bucky asked pulling his knife out of his boot   
Holding his knife at the ready he walked away from the wall and into the center of the room and saw Dredger pulling red clay out of one of the wells, placing it in a bucket.   
"Dredger?" Bucky asked, annoyed  
"Bucky" Dredger said turning around "when did you get down here?"  
"Two seconds ago" Bucky said putting his knife away "didn't you hear me asking who was down here?"  
"No" Dredger said filling the bucket   
"So what are you doing?" Bucky asked, walking up to Dredger so he had a better chance of distracting him while the others snuck in  
"Rebecca has asked me if I could bring her some clay" Dredger said picking up his bucket   
"That should be fun to watch" Bucky chuckled, moving to block Dredgers view of the others "she draws beautifully, but can't sculpt worth a damn"   
"If she is as bad as you say, then why would she want clay?"   
"No idea" Bucky said watching the others walk up the secret steps  
"Let's go find out" Bucky smirked 

As the group made their way up the steps they decided to split up; Holmes, Thomas, and Bruce going to the third floor to investigate as Watson, Steve, and Eric searched the first level. Peaking through the secret door on the third floor Holmes saw Dredger and Bucky walk into the womens room.   
"Do you think there's anyway we can get behind the wall and see how they're doing?" Bruce asked as Holmes began gently tapping on the wall until he found a hollow spot  
"I think there were secret passages when Lucille and I were growing up" Thomas said as Holmes pulled open a small passage "we just didn't know how to get to them"   
"It looks like we can squeeze in through here" Holmes said pushing himself into a narrow passage   
"You're going to get stuck" Thomas said grabbing Holmes sleeve  
"I'll be fine" Holmes said cupping his lovers cheek   
"I think Thomas should go" Bruce chimed in "compared to both of us he's a twig"  
"There's one problem with that" Holmes said lowering his hand "I'm already in the wall" he slipped farther down the opening, out of everyones reach   
"Holmes!" Thomas said grabbing for the detective again  
"I'll be right back" Holmes said as he came across an eye level latch in the wall  
Maneuvering his arm Holmes awkwardly managed to to reach the latch, slowly sliding it open so it didn't make any noise. Looking into the now open hole in the wall the detective watched as Bucky, Dredger, and the woman surrounded Becca as she sculpted something with the red clay from the basement.   
"That doesn't look like a human" Bucky chuckled  
"It looks like a bottom heavy cylinder" Lucille said  
"Shut up" Becca said determined to make the sculpture look right  
"Let me do it" Irene said attempting to take the clay from Becca   
"No" Becca said blocking the thief "I can do it"  
"I think it looks great" Dredger said   
"Thank you Dredger" Becca said   
"What do you see?" Bruce asked quietly   
"It seems Becca is attempting to sculpt something" Holmes said shuffling out of the crawl space "but everyone looks like they're fine"  
"Who's in there with them?" Thomas asked  
"Just Bucky and Dredger" Holmes said finally squeezing out of the wall  
"Do you think we can the him?" Bruce asked as they heard the creaking of the elevator as it rose in the air   
"Shit" All three men whispered as they dove into a nearby room, closing the door behind them, leaving it open only a crack for them to peek through  
When the elevator reached the third floor Coward stepped out of the cage and walked into the room the woman were in. After about ten tense minutes of waiting everyone emerged from the room, all of the woman wearing different dresses from when they were brought here. Lucille was wearing a dress that looked like it would be worn at a funeral, but it was green. Marry was wearing a blue kimono that had a waved pattern sewn into it. Cassandra was in a flowing white gown. Irene was in a red, orange, and yellow South American dress. Finally Becca was in a light grey and blue Grecian robe.   
"What are they wearing?" Thomas asked as the woman walked down the stairs   
"Ceremonial dresses" Holmes said as he and the others walked over to the railing "and they appear to be connected to the element they represent"   
"So we don't have much time to stop this then" Thomas stated   
"Let's go" Holmes said when he was positive the woman were on the first floor 

As Watson, Steve, and Eric Searched through the first floor of the manor they found very little, except when they wound up in the living area. For some reason Blackwood had decided to put a door in the opening to the room, which was good for the group, it gave them the opportunity to wait for the ritual to begin without fear of being spotted. Having taken a seat on the couch Steve and Watson watched as Eric paced back and forth, mumbling to himself. Sighing both Steve and Watson looked at each other, both of them noticing something odd about Mother Sharpes painting out of the corner of their eyes.  
"Do you see that?" Watson asked as they watched a shadow slowly creep across the wall towards the portrait  
"Yeah" Steve said as it finally reached the picture "did it get colder?"  
"Yes" Watson said slightly unsheathing his sword cane "last time this happened ghost showed up"  
"Ghost don't exist" Steve said as red liquid began seeping out from under the frame  
"Then what is that?"  
"I uh, I don't know"

Once Holmes and his group made their way down to the second floor they hid behind a pillar as the ritual had finished being set up. Everything had been set under the hole in the ceiling with circular markings in the north, south, east, and west of the hole with a stone table in the center of it all while a candle burned in each corner of the table. Not only were there burning candles on the table but there were also the five gauntlets that Lucille had stolen, that Blackwood was currently dropping the womans necklaces into, as well as a ceremonial dagger.   
"Where are the others?" Bruce asked looking around as much of the room he could see  
"Hopefully somewhere nearby" Holmes whispered   
"I trust all of you know what you need to do" Blackwood said, barely getting a nod out of each of the woman before they walked over to where they were supposed to stand  
However, unbeknownst to anyone Irene had snatched a pair of scissors from Lucilles room, and she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Once the goblets were ready Coward passed them out to each woman, but when he got to Lucille she stabbed him in the side of his leg. Grunting in pain Coward dropped to a knee and grabbed his bleeding thigh. Figuring this would be a better time than ever Holmes jumped the second floor railing, his fall being softened by a table, onto the first floor. After Holmes was out in the open his group ran down the steps and Watsons came out of the living area.  
"How did they get in here?" Blackwood demanded  
"No idea"Bucky said as white powder explodes in all of the womans face  
"Get them" Blackwood said   
Against their wills the woman, except for Becca, attacked; Irene going after Thomas, Marry her husband, Cassandra Eric, Lucille once again fighting with Holmes, while Steve, Bruce and Bucky stopped Dredger when he tried to join the fight. Only half of each fight was intense, with the woman giving it their all while the men were only blocking the blows while Blackwood laughed and sat back in a nearby chair. Becca wanted to help her friends, but she found herself unable to move while Watson and Eric easily subdued their opponents while Dredger had eventually been taken down by the three men fighting him.   
"Get them out of here" Becca said   
Doing as they were told the protagonists plus one anti-hero took their temporary enemies, plus the bleeding Coward, out of the manor while Thomas had managed to trip up Irene giving him the upper hand to subdue her and drag her outside with the others.   
"So we're down to two parts of the love triangles quarrel" Blackwood laughed lacing his fingers together   
"Lucille listen to me" Holmes said dodging the punches made at him "I'm not going to fight you, but I know you can fight this. You are a very strong woman, you can beat this"  
"I" Lucille said stopping her attacks  
"Lucille wait!" Becca exclaimed as red arms reached out of the floor, grabbing hold of the baronesses skirt   
"And so it begins" Blackwood said smugly  
"Lucille" Holmes said grabbing a hold of the womans arms as she was pulled into the ground  
When the detective had grabbed ahold of Lucille a second set of arms rose from the ground and joined the others, managing to pull her into the ground up to her knees.   
"Holmes?" Lucille asked as the detective wrapped his arms around her, getting her under the arms as he tried to pull her up  
"I'm not letting you die" Holmes grunted desperately trying to pull her out of the floor  
"But, why?" Lucille asked, her voice hushed the next time she spoke "I tried to kill you"  
"I know" Holmes said losing the battle of helping the baroness "and I don't care"  
Becca has had enough of everything that Blackwood was causing and she could feel some form of energy building in the pit of her stomach. Clenching her teeth together and screwing her eyes shut Becca could feel herself tensing up as a scream escaped from deep in her throat causing a wave of energy to travel through the room shattering the windows, knocking Blackwood into the wall behind him, incapacitating him, as well as freeing Lucille giving Holmes the chance to pick her up and move her away from where the arms had been so they would be harder for them to grab her if they came back. Feeling completely drained Becca collapsed to the ground while Holmes was left very confused, looking from Becca, briefly to Blackwood, and then to where the hands had been. He repeated this action several times, omitting Blackwood, before speaking.   
"What?" Holmes asked looking at Becca as she lay on the floor "how'd you do that?"  
"I don't know" Becca panted, laying on the floor   
"Are you guys alright?" Thomas asked walking into the manor with Lestrade "why'd the windows blow out"   
"Where's Blackwood?" Lestrade asked   
"Over there" Becca said weakly pointing over to where the lord lay  
"Are you alright?" Thomas asked rushing over to his friend   
"Yeah" Becca said holding out her arms "help me up"  
"Sure" Thomas said helping the twin to her feet  
"How are the others?" Becca asked Thomas supporting her so she could stand  
"They're fine" Thomas said Lucille ran over to him  
"Thank God you're alright" Lucille said hugging her brother  
"I hate to interrupt" Lestrade said clearing his throat while his men took Blackwood away "but we need to get Lucille back to the hospital. She's been gone for too long"   
"But" Thomas tried to say, only to be interrupted by his sister   
"It's alright Thomas" Lucille said following the captain  
"She'll be out soon" Becca said grabbing her friend's hand  
"Just give it time" Holmes said taking his loves other hand   
"We should be going soon" Steve said walking back into the manor   
Everyone agreed and walked outside where the horses they had rode in on were in front and the constables carriages rode back to town.   
"Thomas wait" Irene said walking up to the baron as he tried to get on his horse "I'm sorry I attacked you"  
"It's fine" Thomas said placing a hand on the thiefs shoulder "there's nothing to apologize for"   
"I guess you're right" Irene said smiling softly   
A few month have passed and Blackwood was once again sentenced to death, Coward was given life in prison, and Dredger only getting a few years behind bars, while Bucky was never convicted.   
"So today's the big day" Becca said as she, Thomas, and Cassandra walked through the market buying groceries for tonight's special dinner "Lucille is finally being released"  
"I know" Thomas said happily "I'm just worried about how well she'll readjust to no longer living at Allderhall and with Holmes"  
"It'll take some time and a lot of support but I'm sure she'll be fine" Cassandra said   
"Still" Thomas said as they finished their shopping "it wouldn't hurt to hide everything that's sharp"  
"That's already been taken care of" Cassandra said as they started their trip home  
It was a quick walk home and they were walking in the door with in ten minutes and were greeted by several bouquets of dark red and black roses as well as a dozen moth shaped cut outs that Becca and Cassandra had detailed by hand to make them look like specific species scattered throughout the living area.  
"Everything looks great" Thomas said as he and the two woman walked into the kitchen  
"Do you think she'll like it?" Holmes asked straightening out the blanket that was covering something large in the corner of the room  
"Everything is perfect" Thomas said giving the detective a kiss on the cheek   
"Come help me set up for dinner" Becca said from the kitchen  
Just as they had finished setting up for and fixing dinner there was a knock at the door.  
"I'll get it" Thomas said walking over to the front door "who's there?"   
"An axe murderer come to steal your right socks" a voice sounding very similar to Steves said on the other side of the door  
“We have no socks for you” Thomas said opening the door to Steve and Lucille “now be gone with you”  
"You'll never get rid of me" Steve said as he and Lucille walked into the house  
"Who's at the door?" Holmes asked walking out of the dining room  
From the moment she had left the hospital Lucilles stomach has been in knots and full of butterflies and now that Holmes was here they had gotten even worse. She had no idea how anyone who had been involved in Blackwoods plans would react to her being out.   
"So this is how things will be happening" Steve said removing the cuffs that were around Lucilles wrists "once a week Bruce and I will be checking in on her to make sure everything's alright"  
"I'm sure she won't be a problem" Holmes said happily  
"I'm positive she wont" Steve said before jumping the railing to his side of the apartment  
"So Lucille" Holmes said closing the front door "welcome home"   
To everyone's surprise Holmes gave Lucille a hug, and not a quick 'hi how are you hug', but an 'oh my God I haven't seen you in forever' hug. This left Lucille utterly and completely confused, while also giving her a chance to loosen some of the knots as well as losing some of the butterflies that were gathered in her stomach. Even though she was somewhat relieved, she still wasn't sure how she should react to the man her brother loved and she had tried to murder as he hugged her. The hug didn't last very long, but as Holmes was about to let go of her Lucille returned the hug.  
"Dinner should be ready now" Thomas said noticing that Becca was poking her out of the kitchen door  
"I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised" Holmes said letting Lucille take his arm so he could lead her back to the dining room  
Inside the dining room the table had been set up with about half of the silverware they already had and half with silverware Eric and Thomas had stolen from Allderdale Hall a few days after Blackwood had been arrested. Not only was the table set with things from her home it was also covered in Lucilles favorite foods and deserts.  
The evening went on without a hitch and, once everything was cleaned up and put away, the group went out to the living room where Holmes said he had a surprise for Lucille.  
“So what’s this surprise?” Cassandra asked watching Holmes as he walked over to the covered thing in the corner and everyone else took a seat  
“It’s a little housewarming gift for our new roommate” Holmes said removing the blanket, revealing a new grand piano   
“Holmes” Lucille said standing up “I don’t know what to say. Thank you, but I don’t deserve this”   
“Of course you do” Thomas said standing up next to his sister, placing a hand on her shoulder “you deserve just as much as the rest of us do” he removed his hand and pulled his sister into a loving hug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How I justify adding Thor, the Snow White story was written in the 1800s and the Huntsman movie takes place in Britain. As for the other Avengers this is my story, but I truly do love you for taking the time to read this. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

It had only been about two weeks since Lucille had been released from Bogs Sanitarium and Becca and Cassandra had convinced Mort to give her a job at the funeral home as their new organist. However, after spending nearly all her life basically alone Lucille was having a little trouble adjusting to her new life, so the twins maternal grandmother offered to let them come and spend the the weekend at her house out in the country while she went to visit their mother, Helen, and her other grandchildren. Accepting the offer Holmes, Thomas, Cassandra, Eric, Becca, and Lucille left their apartment a little after mid-afternoon and found themselves standing in the train station giving the conductor their tickets.  
"So how far in the country is it?" Lucille asked as they boarded   
"We're the first stop on the train" Becca said as they walked along the cars  
"And then it should be about two or three hours to get to the house" Cassandra said as they found seats  
"And our closest neighbor is about half an hour away" Becca finished  
"So we'll be alone?" Lucille asked   
"Yeah" Becca said   
"You aren't going to go all crazy paranoid again, are you?" Cassandra asked furrowing her brows   
"Why would she be paranoid?" Thomas asked   
"Before we turned about seventeen and mom got married to Bill the two of us, our two younger sisters, and little brother lived with Grand-Grand and one night when were little Becca was convinced that there was a clown standing outside our window looking in at us as we were sleeping" Cassandra explained with a sigh  
"He was there and it was staring at us with it's creepy gross clown eye balls!" Becca shrieked angrily   
"What's wrong with clowns?" Holmes asked   
Becca didn't respond, she just got to her feet and raised her fist like she was going to punch the detective. Holmes obviously thought she would because the moment the psychic got to her feet he lifted both of his arms so one could protect his face and lifted his legs to protect his crotch.  
"There's no need for violence" A voice said by their seats  
Everyone turned their head and saw Bruce sanding behind slightly behind them.  
"What are you doing here Bruce?" Eric asked   
"I'm on my way to do a check up on an elderly couple out in the country" Bruce explained   
The woman scooted over so the doctor could squeeze in on their bench.  
"Are they Mr. And Mrs. Kramer?" Becca asked, sitting back down on Thomas' lap since there was no room on either of the benches  
"Do you know them?" Bruce asked   
"Yeah" Becca said as the train began moving "they're my grandma's neighbors"   
"So I guess we'll be seeing each other this weekend" Bruce said "maybe"  
"Maybe" Cassandra chuckled   
The train ride was pleasant as the little family plus Bruce talked to each other and told a few jokes except for Lucille, she spent the whole ride looking out the window feeling completely out of place. When the train finally came to a stop it seemed as if they were the only ones to get off of, walking out to a nearly empty station. The small group gathered their bags before walking out of the station and into the small town, it was a little more congested then the station but it wasn't nearly as bad as back home.   
"Hold on" Cassandra said "I want to stop by the market and get some groceries before we go"   
"Did Elise not say we were welcome to whatever food is at her house?" Eric asked   
"I don't feel right about eating all her food" Cassandra said as they entered the market place   
"Let's meet back here in about half an hour" Becca said motioning to the sign that said Market Place on it   
They split into groups Cassandra and Eric walked off together towards the stands that were to the left of them while Thomas and Holmes walked straight ahead leaving Becca, Bruce, and Lucille alone.  
"I should probably get going" Bruce said attempting to leave   
"Nonsense" Becca said grabbing the doctor's arm "we have to go by there, we can give you a ride"   
"Thank you" Bruce said noticing Lucille was staring off in the distance "are you alright?"  
"Hm" Lucille said looking over at Bruce "I'm fine. I was just daydreaming"  
"Are you sure?" Bruce asked placing a hand on the baronesses shoulder "you looked upset"  
"It's nothing" Lucille said waving it off "don't worry about it"  
The thirty minutes went by quickly and everyone found themselves squeezing into Grand-Grands carriage, except for Eric who was at the reins and Cassandra who was giving him the directions.   
"So what's the house like?" Lucille asked   
"Well it's only one story high, but it had just enough room for my mother and other siblings when we went to live with her" Becca explained "granted Michael was the only child who got his own room. Since our psychic powers come from moms side of the family the decor kinda looks like my room back home"  
"Not only that she has a reading room and a room full of confiscated haunted objects" Cassandra said, having crawled on top of the carriage so she could look in at them   
"What are you doing?" Holmes asked looking at the woman  
"I felt left out" Cassandra said before disappearing so she could crawl back next to Eric  
"And then there's the basement" Becca said "it's got guns"  
"So we should probably keep you away from it" Thomas joked   
"That clown was real!" Becca exclaimed, her voice raising an octave   
"What exactly did you do about it?" Holmes asked   
"I got one of the guns, dipped its bullets in holy water, and hid it under my pillow"  
"Jesus" Bruce smiled as the carriage came to a stop   
"We're here" Eric said getting down from the reins, helping Cassandra down as well   
When Eric opened the door Becca sat up straight and began doing an impression of a Meerkat on the lookout for danger as she looked around.   
"Are your baby senses tingling?" Thomas asked as everyone, but Bruce, got out of the carriage   
"Shut up" Becca said walking slightly faster than the others as they approached the house  
"This is just like when the baby came around" Thomas said  
"What happened?" Eric asked having never been told the full story about the happenings at Alder Dale  
“Some time ago Thomas had gotten married and she had gotten pregnant” Lucille said not really sure if she should relay the information that she and her brother had been sexualy involved to the huntsman “we knew that the baby wasn’t going to make it and she tried to help it but nothing worked” she sighed with a hint of sadness to her voice when they reached the front of the house "and then she pretty much cried for a whole day when it finally passed"   
"Rebecca. Cassandra" an elderly man sitting on the front porch said   
"What a nice surprise" the woman sitting next to him said "you've both grown so much since the last time we saw you" she turned slightly so she could call into the opened door "Amanda, can you come out here dear"   
"Yes Mom" a woman, around Becca and Cassandras age, said walking out of the house holding an infant "Beccy. Cassy. It's been so long" she ran up to the two and gave both of them a hug "how've you guys been?"  
"This is my boyfriend" Cassandra said grabbing Erics muscular arm "Eric"   
"Hello" Eric said smiling politely  
"And I'm still alone" Becca said "and these are our housemates. Sherlock Holmes, Sir Thomas Sharpe, and his sister Lady Lucille Sharpe. Guys this is Mr. Kramer, his wife Mary Shaw, and their daughter Amanda"   
"She's going to steal your baby" Thomas said as Amanda handed her son over to Becca, who in turn hissed at him   
"No I won't" Becca said sitting on the front steps  
"That's a lie" Thomas said   
"Who even asked you" Becca said narrowing her eyes slightly  
"It's nice to see little Billy is doing well" Bruce said having finally left the carriage   
"Thank you for coming all the way out here Dr. Banner" Mary Shaw said   
"It was no trouble" Bruce said happily, before walking into the house so he could set up his doctor stuff   
"Hand over the baby Rebecca" Holmes said noticing the light grey clouds out in the distance "we should probably be leaving"  
"Why?" Cassandra asked, no one really understanding his want to leave  
"It appears as though it is going to rain" Holmes said pointing at the sky   
"I'll get her from behind and you get the baby" Thomas whispered to his sister when he noticed Becca looked like she was dead set on keeping the baby  
"Ok" Lucille said as her brother crept behind their friend   
"Come here friend" Thomas said giving Becca a hug from behind "it's hug time"   
"I will stab you in your sleep" Becca nearly growled as Lucille carefully took the infant from the baby crazed half of the twins   
"I believe you" Thomas said glancing back at the detective when the baby was finally in Lucilles arms  
"I'll protect you from anything, but her" Holmes said noticing how Lucille was looking at the infant, like a mother laying her eyes on her child for the first time, then there was a crash of thunder in the distance   
"Here" Lucille said handing the now squirming baby over to his mother   
"Come along Rebecca" Holmes said wrapping an arm around her shoulder  
"You'll be next" Becca said as she was lead back to the carriage   
"That's why locks have doors on them" Holmes said opening the carriage door so they could get in  
"Don't you mean..." Becca tried to say as she was practically shoved into the carriage   
"Shh" Holmes said assisting Lucille in behind the twin  
When everyone was inside Eric took the reins and started back off for Grans-Grans house. As the building finally came into sight the grey clouds had taken up about half of the sky, casting an eerie shadow over everything.  
"Well this is lovely" Holmes said as the path they were on took them through a tunnel of trees that had branches that covered the path.  
"Does this mean we're going to be murdered by ghosts?" Thomas asked  
"Yes" Becca said "but they only do it to men and the only reason Michael lived was because he looks like us"  
"His hair didn’t have a part in it?" Thomas asked   
"Plus he was always short and skinny for a male" Becca said   
"I'm not sure I'd be talking if I were you" Lucille said, the slightest traces of a smile on her lips "if I recall correctly father always seemed very cross with you for not being muscular"   
"It's a shame he's so tall" Becca said reaching over to brush a strand of hair out of the barons face "you look so beautiful in a dress"   
"What?" Holmes asked as they came to a stop  
"We're here" Thomas said, quickly getting out of the carriage  
"Hold on" Holmes said following after Thomas   
"Do you think he'll get it out of him?" Cassandra asked as her twin and the baroness got out of the carriage  
"I'm not sure" Lucille said as she and both the twins grabbed their bags   
"Let me" Eric said attempting to take the bags from the baroness   
"No that's alright" Lucille said grabbing her brothers bag "I've got it"  
"Are you sure?" Eric asked  
"Of course" Lucille said as they walked toward the house where Holmes and Thomas were left standing on the porch, unable to get inside  
The building was only one story tall but looked like it was just barely large enough to hold a Grandmother, Mother, four daughters, and a son to live comfortably, even if the girls had to share a room. Pulling the keys out of her bag Cassandra opened the door and the group was hit with the very noticeable scent of sage. The interior was nice, but also slightly resembled Becca and Cassandras rooms back home with a slight grandmotherly touch to it.   
"Did she take Warren with her?" Cassandra asked as they walked into the cottage "Warren, Warren. Come here boy"   
"Here's a note" Eric said pulling a sheet of paper off of the back of the door  
"Let me see" Becca said holding out her hand for Eric to giver her the paper "Warren is at the Kramers, help yourself to any food in the house, and I blessed the confiscated door and room before I left"  
"And what is the confiscation room?" Holmes asked   
"Grand-Grand helps people with demonic hauntings and removes the attached items from the homes and locks them in a blessed room" Becca said as a light rain began falling from the greying sky "you guys wanna see it?"  
"Sure" Thomas said   
"One rule though. Don't touch anything if you do I'm going to punch you” Cassandra said holding up her fist “and leave you locked in the room until we leave"   
"Why is everyone in your family so violent?" Holmes asked  
"Because fuck you" Cassandra said punching him in his arm "that's why"  
"What was that?" Lucille asked looking in the direction of the kitchen   
“What was what?” Eric asked   
“I saw a thing moving in the kitchen” Lucille said   
"What'd it look like?" Thomas asked   
"I'm not sure" Lucille said "it kinda looked like a shadow. Should we be worried?"  
"Hm" the twins said looking at each other  
"I don't sense anything sinister" Becca said   
"Neither do I" Cassandra added   
"So I'm just seeing things then?" Lucille asked  
"Not necessary" Cassandra said   
"What should we do with our stuff?" Eric asked motioning to their luggage  
"Burn it and start a new in the wilderness" Cassandra said as Holmes pulled out his pipe   
"Jesus" Thomas chuckled under his breath "can we just get settled in without burning down grandmas house?"  
"Why would grandmas house be burnt down?" Holmes asked tossing his no longer lit match over his shoulder  
"I know right" Cassandra said grabbing one of the matches out of its box, also throwing it over her shoulder  
"Lets just get everything put away" Becca said picking up the matches  
"Yes mom" Eric said picking up as many bags as he could before any of the women could get to them  
"Look at you Mister Manly Muscles over here" Lucille said looking over at the huntsman  
"Thank you" Eric said smiling proudly "where should I put these?"  
"I'll show you" Becca said taking the lead up the five steps to the bedrooms   
Everyone followed Rebecca up the steps to the six rooms, one room looked like it was two rooms put together and had several religious items stuck to its door.  
"Thomas Holmes" Becca said walking over to the door at the end of the hall on the right side of the house "you can stay in Michaels old room"   
All of the rooms were the same with two twin sized bed and a nightstand between them.  
"I guess we can stay in Penelopy's old room" Cassandra said opening the door that was almost directly in front of the steps   
"And we get the singles suit" Becca said opening the door at the other end of the hall "who's bag do you have Eric?"  
"Yours, Lucilles, and ours" Eric said looking at the bags he was holding   
"I'll take them" Lucille said grabbing the correct bags   
Once everyone knew what rooms they were sleeping in they all got settled in.  
"So where did Nancy sleep?" Eric asked setting their bags down on the only bed  
"In a hammock that she had screwed into the ceiling" Cassandra said putting their clothes in the dresser   
"Are you ever going to tell me about why the girls think you look good in a dress?" Holmes asked placing his bag on the chair by the window  
"Ok" Thomas sighed putting his clothes away "about a week before I met you, Lucille and I decided to visit Becca and Cassandra back when they still lived with their mom and after all the kids had gone to bed everyone aside from Helen decided to try absinth and from what I'm told I decided to try on one of their dresses and I wore it until the point in the night were I decided to get naked"  
"You sound like a lot of fun when you're drunk" Holmes said smiling   
"From what I've heard I am"   
"What bed do you want" Becca asked closing the door behind her   
"Which bed did you sleep in?" Lucille asked setting the bags down between the beds  
"I always slept by the door"   
"I can sleep by the window then" Lucille said placing her bag on her bed "that way I can protect you from the night clowns"  
"Fuck that" Becca said sitting down on her bed "if I see any clowns I'm going to go down into the basement, grab one of the guns, and then shoot it in the face and if their foots does this" she shook her hand, imitating a twitching foot "I'm gonna shoot it again"  
"That's a bit excessive don't you think?" Lucille asked opening the closet so she could put her cloths away "what's this?" she knelt down and picked up a porcelain doll it was in a white dress with braided pigtail auburn hair  
"What's what?" Becca asked walking over to the baroness   
"Whose doll is this?"   
"I don't think I've ever seen it before" Becca said looking over Lucilles shoulder "it might have been Penelopes, but why is it in our room?"  
"Well I'm going to put it in the chair" Lucille said feeling an odd contention to the doll   
"Go ahead" Becca said putting both of their clothes away and placing her red, slightly crude, clay statue of Edith on the nightstand between the two beds "did somebody just knock on the door?"  
"I didn't hear anything" Lucille said watching Becca grab an empty candle holder and leave for the front door   
Brushing the dolls auburn bangs to the side Lucille gently placed it on the bed, making sure it was comfortable before following the psychic to the front door. She got to the front of the house and saw a beautiful young woman with shoulder length brown hair in a white and black dress was standing in the door with a pie speaking to Becca. She didn't get close enough to hear what the two were saying but Lucille did see the other woman hand over the pie to Becca. Taking the baked good the psychic gave the woman a hug before she went back to her carriage.  
"Who was that?" Lucille asked   
"She was one of Grand-Grands clients" Becca said walking into the kitchen to place the pie on the counter "it stopped" she pointed out noticing the twilight sky no longer had clouds in it  
"You're right" Lucille said walking next to Becca   
"We should go out to the lake tomorrow" Becca said as the two walked back to their room   
"That sounds like fun" Lucille said noticing a section of the shadows in the hall was slightly darker than the surrounding blackness  
When the two women reentered their room they both slipped out of their dresses into their nightgowns before crawling into bed ready to sleep, Becca almost instantly falling asleep while Lucille was left lying wide awake in the darkness. As she lay there the baroness could have sworn she heard someone calling her name, grabbing the doll she had placed next to her pillow she followed the voice into the room whose door was covered in religious items. As she approached the door, the doll held close to her body, it swung open on its own allowing her to enter the room so she could walk through the many rows of wooden shelves full of seemingly random objects until she eventually found a doll that was locked inside of a class case. Inside the case was a rag doll with red yarn hair and was dressed in a blue dress, white apron, and had a white bonnet tied to its head. Looking at the case Lucille stood there for a few moments before walking into the kitchen making a stop at the boozes cabin so she could grab the bottle of gin she’d bought when they stopped at the market, pouring some of the liquid out into a glass before she went back to her room. Downing the tumbler the baroness set it down on the nightstand next to Ediths statue before falling into a restless sleep, tossing and turning under the covers. When the sun rose in the sky Lucille and Becca were the last people to wake up. Groaning Lucille sat up and and felt an ache in her neck whenever she moved, it was at its worst when she attempted to turn her head in anyway which made it a little difficult to get dressed.  
"You alright?" Becca asked the baroness as the two walked towards the kitchen   
"I think I just slept funny" Lucille said rubbing the back of her neck   
They walked into the kitchen and found that everyone was already at the table and Thomas had made them all breakfast.  
"So did you get a visit from your old friend last night?" Cassandra asked as her twin sat next to her  
"Did you hear gunshots?" Becca asked stealing her sister's coffee as she shook her head no "then no"   
Chuckling Cassandra went back to eating as Thomas gave his sister and Becca their breakfast.  
"So what's the plan for today?" Thomas asked taking his seat  
"I was thinking a tour of the demon room and then we go out to the lake" Becca said   
"I didn't bring a bathing suite" Thomas said   
"We always went skinny dipping" Cassandra said   
"That's probably what turned Michael gay" Holmes joked "you all traumatized him for life"  
"Who's up for a naked swim?" Cassandra asked ignoring the detective  
"I think Gran-Gran still has some spare bathing suits" Becca said   
"Why do you have to ruin my fun?"  
"Nobody ever said that you have to wear anything" Eric said   
"It's not as fun if I'm the only one who's naked"   
"Don't worry" Holmes said placing a hand on Cassandras forearm "we'll get Thomas drunk and he'll join you"   
"Because that's a smart idea" Thomas said   
"We can get drunk tonight" Eric suggested   
"Wooh!" Becca exclaimed raising her cup "hurray for alcoholism"   
"You have a problem" Thomas said clacking his cup against hers  
"Vodka for the win"   
"Gin is better" Lucille said joining the cheers   
"And rum is best" Eric joined   
"You're stupid" Becca said "rum is gross"   
"You're all wrong" Holmes said raising his own glass "brandy is the greatest alcohol of all"   
"Don't let him in the cheers" Lucille said moving the joined glasses out of the detectives reach   
"I will crawl over this table" Holmes said straining to reach the others  
Once breakfast was finished the table was cleared Becca walked into her grandmother's room so she could unlock the box the key to the demon room was. Grabbing the key she left the room and chucked it down the hall at her twin so she could let the others in the room. Unlocking the door Cassandra let her friends in the room and left the key in the door knob so Becca could still get in if the door closed behind her as she joined the others.  
"So why is are all of these items here?" Holmes asked, being the only one who didn't understand the spirit world   
"Demons attach themselves to inanimate objects so it's easier for them to enter homes and take the souls of the owners so they can become more powerful" Cassandra said as Becca entered the room   
"And then they move on and continue the cycle" Becca said closing the door behind her  
"Sure they do" Holmes said slowly shaking his head up and down "what is that?" he pointed to a painted picture of a little hairy creature sitting on a person's chest  
"That is the Bakatak" Thomas said walking over to the detective "what happened with this picture?"  
"It kept giving the owner vivid nightmares just like the creature depicted in it" Becca said walking up to the locked glass case that held the doll "does Annabelle look different?"   
"Different how?" Cassandra asked  
"She looks newer" Becca said getting closer to the glass   
"Oh yeah" Cassandra said also getting closer to the glass "you think Gran-Gran got someone to restore her to calm the demon?" Becca only shrugged   
"This is a spoon" Holmes said holding up a wooden spoon "what could this have possibly done?"  
"What did I tell you about touching stuff?" Becca asked walking over to Holmes "now you get punched"  
"One" Holmes said putting down the spoon "you didn't say anything and two" he turned around and ran out of the room   
"So who's ready for the lake?" Cassandra asked as all of them exited the demon room, Becca locking the door behind them   
"Should we pack a picnic?" Eric asked  
"Sure" Becca said   
"Meet back up in about an hour" Thomas suggested   
"Somebody should probably look for Holmes" Lucille said  
"He's fine" Thomas said as violin music began playing "see"   
"I'm gonna scare him" Eric said opening the window at the end of the hall so he could crawl out of it and creep to the back of the house   
Wanting to see what would happen Lucille walked into her and Beccas room.  
"Eric" Lucille whispered opening her window "here" she handed him a white sheet   
"Thank you" Eric said taking the sheet so he could drape it over his body   
Closing the window Lucille laid out on her bed and stared up at the ceiling feeling exhausted after the sleepless night, she wanted to take a nap but her heavy eyes wouldn't close. Sighing she got up and closed the blinds and turned off the lights so the room was pitch black hoping that it would help her. It didn't. She was just left laying in bed as her mind began wandering to her past. Everything was silent, she couldn't even hear Eric walking around outside, then again he could just be waiting for the perfect moment or he could have already done it and she somehow didn't hear a scream. She didn't know, she couldn't hear anything that was going on outside of the room. Sighing Lucille curled up into a ball and felt the pain in her neck get worse. Inhaling sharply through her tightly clenched teeth she got off the bed and her feet lead her to stand in front of the nightstand Edith's statue was sitting on. Grabbing the red statue she held it up at about eye level and the pain in her neck suddenly disappeared and she could hear someone knocking at the door, sounding like they had been doing it for a while. Putting Edith back down on the nightstand Lucille walked over to the door she didn't remember locking and opened it to Thomas on the other side.   
"Are you ready to go to the lake?" Thomas asked   
"Yeah" Lucille said wondering just how long she had been in the room for because judging by the amount of sunlight that was coming into the house it was much closer to afternoon than morning   
"Did you take a nap?" Thomas asked as he and his sister walking down the hall  
"Tried to" Lucille said   
Walking down the steps with her brother Lucille saw that everyone was already in the living room ready for the lake, waiting for her.   
"Let’s go" Cassandra said opening the front door   
The twins took lead of the group to the lake while Lucille lingered behind taking in the atmosphere of the surrounding forest, it seemed darker than it should have and almost had a sinister feeling to it. It didn't take very long to get to the lake and Holmes laid out the blanket they would be sitting on about halfway between the lake and the edge of the forest and Cassandra set down the basket.   
"We should have a bonfire tonight" Becca suggested setting out the food and glasses   
"That's the only way to properly get drunk" Eric said pouring out a drink for himself  
"How is it that I have surrounded myself with nothing but alcoholics?" Holmes asked himself  
"Because we're most fun people you know" Cassandra said selecting a sandwich   
"That's not true" Homes said   
"Oh come on we're more fun than Watson" Cassandra said   
"I didn't say it was Watson"   
"You mean Moriority?" Thomas asked  
"Precisely" Holmes said earning a punch to the arm from Cassandra "what was that for?"   
"I owed you for the spoon" Cassandra said taking a drink from her glass  
They finished their lunches and left the blanket and the basket laying where they had set them so they could walk down to the lake, except for Lucille she decided to sit under one of the trees they grew a few feet away from the water's edge. Spotting the baroness under the tree Becaa decided to hang back with Lucille while the baron and the detective went to the water and Eric helped Cassandra practice with the bow and arrow she had grabbed before they left.  
"What're you doing back here?" Becca asked sitting next to the baroness   
"Nothing" Lucille sighed "I just don't really feel like doing anything right now"  
"Alright" Becca said standing up  
"Where are you going?" Lucille asked watching Becca as she started walking   
"Into the woods"   
Deciding that she didn't want to sit there alone Lucille followed her friend into the foliage. Very little light was able to penetrate through the leaves and there was virtually no sound echoing through the forest, they could barely even hear their footsteps as their feet hit the ground.   
"It's so quiet" Lucille said   
"When the woman who used to own this land found out she was going to lose it, she cursed the property saying that anyone who owned it would die a painful death right before she hung herself and it's said that her vengeful spirit still haunts her old property"  
"God dammit why'd you tell me that?"   
"You asked" Becca said as they came upon a small abandoned graveyard that had become over run with the plants that grew within the rotting fence that surrounded the tombstones   
"No I didn't"   
Neither one spoke as Becca opened the partially decomposed gate or as the two walked into the small cemetery. Leaving the gate open Becca walked to the the gravestone that was most overrun with weeds in the back of the cemetery. As Becca sat in front of the stone she removed the plant life and whipped off the grime that had gathered on it off. Lucille sat close behind her watching as the stone was cleared off trying to make out what the faded engravings said, but was only able to make out the date. They were only seven years old when they died, Lucille thought to herself as she read the date.  
"She's the oldest one here" Becca said removing the last of the clutter  
"What happened?" Lucille asked turning to the grave that was next to her so she could clear it off  
"Different things" Becca said moving to a different grave "most of them were from illnesses but some were from complications at birth or they drowned in the lake, there's even an infant whose mother sacrificed him to the devil buried here"  
"How do you know?" Lucille asked finishing the grave she had been working on "all of these happened long before we were born"  
"Their spirits still linger here" Becca said as the baroness began feeling multiple presences surrounding them "I used to come out here all the time when my mom and the rest of us still lived here. I would always clear off the head stones and leave some of the flowers that I picked from moms garden"   
Looking over all of the graves again Lucille began feeling the same soul crushing heartache she had when her own baby had passed even though she had tried her hardest to distance herself from the infant, she couldn't and tears began pouring from her eyes.  
"God I'm pathetic" Lucille sniffed as she wiped at her eyes   
"No you're not" Becca said standing up so she could leave the graveyard "sometimes we have to die a little inside in order to be reborn and rise stronger and, because what defines us is how well we rise after falling" she offered her hand to the baroness "not how far we've fallen"   
Whipping the tears from her eyes the baroness took her friend's hand and stood letting Becca lead her back to the edge of the forest.   
"Becky. Lucy" a voice that sounded like Thomas yelled from the edge of the forest   
"Well they're dead" Eric said   
"Good" Lucille said as she and Becca walked out of the forest "I'm sick of all of you"   
"What were you doing in there?" Cassandra asked  
"Stuff" Becca said   
"What kind of stuff?" Cassandra asked   
"Stuff stuff"   
"It's getting late" Eric said looking up at the sky "we should gather some firewood for the bonfire"  
"Grand-Grand has a big pile of wood she keeps under a tarp on the side of the house" Cassandra said "and then sometime tomorrow we can replace it"   
"Are you alright?" Thomas asked noticing his sisters eyes were slightly red   
"Hm?" Lucille asked looking over at Thomas "oh yeah I'm fine. I just got something in my eye"   
"What's on the back of your neck?" Holmes asked moving the baroness' braid to the side and over her shoulder "they're bruises. How did these get here?"  
"I don't know" Lucille hissed through clenched teeth as the detective gently touched the black marks on her neck   
"It looks like someone had a death grip on you" Holmes said moving the braid back into place "we should get some ice on that"   
"Actually I just want to take a hot bath when we get back to the house" Lucille said   
"That might make them worse" Holmes said as the house came into view "you should at least ice it while you're waiting on the tub to fill up"   
When they entered the house Holmes lead Lucille into the kitchen and went to the freezer and pulled out a tray of ice, pouring about a third of it into a wash cloth, tying the corners of it together and handed it over the baroness. As the detective was getting the ice ready Lucille sat on the edge of the table picking at a bit of loose skin she had found by the nail on her thumb. As she was picking at it the skin was slowly getting pulled away from the digit, until she decided to pull it off. However what she hadn’t expected was for the skin she was picking at to be ripped off past her knuckle, blood leaking up from the edges of the wound.  
"Thank you" Lucille said holding back her panic, taking the makeshift ice pack, and hiding her thumb in her tightly closed fist hoping to stop the blood  
"You're welcome" Holmes said closing the freezer door "and you're sure you don't know how you got those bruises?"   
"Positive" Lucille said putting the pack on the back of her neck as Holmes gently grabbed hold of her chin  
"Have you been sleeping?" Holmes asked looking at the bags under her eyes  
"No. I haven't been able to sleep since we got here"   
"Have you been having nightmares?"   
"No" Lucille sighed "I just can't seem to turn my brain off" she lied, she had no idea why she couldn't sleep  
"A lot has changed for you" Holmes said placing a comforting hand on her shoulder "I'm sure everything will be fine soon"  
"I hope so" Lucille said quickley walking off to the bathroom   
Closing the door behind her Lucille ran over to the sink so she could wash away the blood, but didn’t see any it didn’t even look like the skin she’d pulled away reached past the end of her nail. Backing away from the sink she reached behind her and turned on the faucet for the tub. Taking a few deep breaths Lucille tested the water before she plugged up the drain. As she waited for the tub to fill up the baroness walked over to the small closet and pulled out a fluffy towel when she spotted a sheet of paper laying on top of a small box. Grabbing the paper she read over what was written on it. 'You're welcome to use as many of the bath salts as you want', signed Grand-Grand. Opening the box she looked over everything that was inside it and settled on a pine scented one unscrewing the top off the tiny container, pouring about half of it into the tub, and mixed it in with her arm. Once the tub was filled she stripped out of her dress and undid her braid before stepping into the water. Sinking down into the steaming water she let the warmth envelop her and she almost immediately felt better than she had that entire weekend. Letting out a content sigh she slid down until only her nose her nose up was out of the water along with the tops of her knees. As she sat there her mind again began to wander to different moments of her life, focusing mainly on the worst parts of it. The longer these thoughts consumed her mind the further she could feel herself sinking into the water until she found herself looking up at the ceiling through the water. She wasn't really sure how long she had been underwater for, she just knew that her lungs were beginning to burn from the lack of oxygen and she had no desire to resurface. Closing her eyes Lucille let the darkness consume her and she was content, that was until she heard someone walking around in the room. Opening her eyes back up she saw a red figure standing by the edge of the tub reaching down for her when a black figure shoved it out of the way. Shocked Lucille shot up out off the water allowing some of it access to her lungs causing her to begin coughing up what felt like a lung as she got out of the tub. Panting heavily she stared at herself in the mirror trying to figure out what had happened while she was under the water when there was a knock at the door.   
"Are you alright in there?" Thomas asked from the other side of the door “I thought I heard you scream”  
"Yeah, no. I’m fine" Lucille said turning her head away from the mirror, positive that she saw her reflection still staring at her from the corner of her eye   
"Alright. Becca's got dinner started and it should be ready in about an hour" Thomas said before walking away from the bathroom door   
Whipping her head back towards the mirror she moved her head around watching her reflection carefully as it copied everything she did. Grabbing her towel off the floor she wrapped it around herself before draining the water in the tub and grabbing her clothing so she could go back to her room. Locking the bedroom door behind her Lucille slumped against it, letting her clothes and towel drop to the floor as she ran her hands through her wet hair combing it out with her fingers. Closing her eyes she stepped away from the door and walked towards the closet so she could grab her nightgown and put it on however, even though she's knew she was alone she could still feel a pair of eyes on her. Pushing the feeling aside she wrapped the towel around here wet hair in an attempt to dry it before she went out into the living room with everyone else and joined in the game of cards they were playing. When dinner was finally ready they paused their game and went into the dining room. As the food was passed around Lucille found herself staring down at a plate of her favorite things to eat.  
"You haven't eaten anything since we got here" Thomas pointed out "are you sick?" he reached out and pressed the back of his hand to his sister's forehead "you don't feel warm"   
This had everyone concerned as Holmes had already informed them that she hadn't been sleeping. No one really sure what was going on with her, so no one was sure how to approach her with their concerns. By the time dinner was over Lucille had eaten some of the food from her plate but most of it was still there and was put into a container when they cleared off the table.   
"How much longer should we wait to start the fire?" Eric asked looking out the front window as he set a card down on the table  
"After we finish the game" Cassandra said looking determined to at the very least beat her boyfriend  
About fifteen minutes later Holmes won the game and as his prize he didn’t have to help set up the fire pit. Walking around the yard Thomas and Cassandra looked for as many rocks as they could find the two added them to the already existing ring of rocks to make it larger. While everyone else was outside Becca and Lucille were in the kitchen gathering the scotch, rum, vodka, gin, and glasses together. Placing the bottles in her hand on the counter Becca reached up into the cupboard and grabbed the largest glass she could find and filled it with two thirds vodka and one third pomegranate juice. Joining everyone else outside Becca and Lucille set the alcohol and glasses down in the grass as Eric and Thomas piled as much wood as they could into the ring of the rocks while Cassandra was looking for any flammable liquid.   
“Did you find anything?” Thomas asked when Cassandra came back   
“No” Cassandra said walking over to Holmes “do you have your matches on you?”  
“Yes” Holmes said taking out the box  
Grabbing the box Cassandra pulled out a couple matches and lit them, dropping one on the wood in front of her then walking around to the other side so she could drop the other one on that side.  
"Is it working?" Thomas asked getting closer to the pit "it's caught but we'll need some more"   
Pulling out several more matches Thomas tossed each one in at different locations around the circle, the fire slowly spreading until it turned into a raging inferno. Grabbing the largest logs he could find Eric sat them around the fire pit so everyone could use them as seats while the alcohol was passed around and poured out into glasses, except for Lucille who decided to drink straight from the bottle.  
“What was it like growing up here?” Eric asked taking a swig from his mug of rum   
“It would be better if the others were here” Cassandra said “they have different perspectives of these events”   
“What about you two?” Holmes asked the Sharpe siblings “do you have any stories?”  
“Yes” Thomas said   
“We’ll go first” Becca said “Mom and Grand-Grand says that when Cassandra and I were three and Nancy and Peneolpy were two we would tell them that this woman in all white would read us stories pretty much every night before we went to bed”  
“Apparently the Lady in White skipped Michael because he’s never mentioned her” Cassandra said taking a drink “he would tell us about a man in all black but he would never tell us what he did and now Zoey’s told me that the Lady in White has been telling her stories too so apparently she’s following us”   
“Same here” Lucille said holding out her hand for a high five “except we found out it was our grandma reading to us”   
“We still have no idea who was reading to us” Becca said   
“Can’t be as bad as constantly getting locked out of everything back at Allder Dale” Thomas said poking the fire with a stick he’d found   
“Do you remember what happened last time we all spent the night at moms house?” Becca asked  
“Yes” Eric said “Michael gave me a wire hanger, shoved me out into the hall, and told me to go investigate”  
“That’s right” Cassandra said as she, Becca, and Lucille started laughing “it was the same night Thomas tried on a dress”  
“What happened?” Thomas asked barely remembering the night “I was too drunk to remember”  
“It happened when you were trying on, who’s dress was it?” Becca asked   
“I think it was Penelopys” Cassandra said   
“While he was trying on the dress we were all in the same room me, Cassandra, Lucille, Nancy, Penelopy, Eric, and Michael and all of a sudden we heard two people talking in these demonic like growling voices downstairs and then we hear something clomping up the steps towards us. Apparently Michael thought we were to drunk to handle it” Becc said motioning to her and Cassandra “so he sent Eric to poke whoever was in the house to death”   
“And there was nothing there” Eric said “I was just walking around an empty house holding a wire out in front of me”  
“At least you grew up in a family that believed in ghosts” Thomas said “our mother and father never believed a word we said. Did your father believe you? I can’t recall you guys ever mentioning him”  
“That’s because he was never around and if you want to whole story you’ll have to ask mom because we were really young” Becca said taking a drink “but all I do know he tried to kill all of us”  
The moment Helen found out she was pregnant with her only son her husband decided to get rid of his family but what he hadn't counted on was his wife going into full mother bear mode on the hitman, wrestling the gun away from him, shooting the man in both knees, and threatening to shoot her husband when she realized that he wasn't going to help if he made a wrong move. Now they're both rotting in jail. Forever. Probably already murdered.   
"You know what I remember happening a few days after that happened" Cassandra said "while the four of us were playing outside Scathach came out of the woods and joined us in whatever it was we were doing"  
"Yeah" Becca said sitting up straight "then mom came out of the house with a shotgun and was about the shoot her before she held out a bag. Do you remember what was in it?"  
"No. I don't think anyone ever told us"   
Even though the twins had changed the subject the could still feel some tension lingering in the air about their father so the wanted to ease the tension by playing twenty questions, hoping that the drinker they got the more insane to game would become.   
"Is it organic?" Holmes asked  
"Yes" Becca said taking a drink from her cup   
"Is it a person?" Thomas asked   
"Yes"   
"Are they male?" Eric asked  
"No"   
"Then I have no idea" Eric said   
"Oh God" Lucille said acknowledging the fact that her brother had removed all of his clothing from the waists up "there he goes"  
"Jesus" Holmes chuckled as he took a drink of his brandy   
"How much longer until his pants come off?" Cassandra asked   
"I say fifteen minutes" Lucille said  
"I'd say shorter" Becca said watching as the baron took another shot of double vodka   
They continued on with the game and no one was able to figure out the person Becca was thinking of, it was Nancy their younger sister, who was also Penelope's twin. The longer the game ran the more out of left field the answers became, it even got to the point when Thomas wasn't even shouting out things that pertained to the information that had been given.   
"Thomas, shut up" Becca said as Thomas slipped out of his pants   
"Farfict nugen" Thomas said   
"I said shut up, Thomas" Becca said as Lucille realized that she had drank almost the entire bottle of gin  
"I'm going inside" Lucille said getting to her feet "I drank way too much"   
"Do you need help?" Holmes asked noticing that Lucille was wobbling when she stood up  
"I'll be fine" Lucille said slowly making her way to the house   
Taking slow meticulous steps the baroness managed to make her way into the house and used the walls to lead herself back to her room. Leaning against the wall Lucilles vision began to warp and everything was moving making all of the pictures on the wall look like they were watching her as she walked up the three steps, stumbling as entered her bedroom. Not bothering to turn on the lights Lucille flopped down on Beccas bed and rolled onto her back, covering her eyes with the crook of her arm. Groaning she once again found herself unable to fall asleep and laid glaring up at the dark ceiling resenting the fact that she couldn't sleep while everyone else had no trouble at all. The longer she lay there the more she felt like something was crushing her down into the mattress and she could have sworn she heard something growling somewhere far off in the small room. Feeling fear beginning to seep into her veins Lucille tried to sit up but found herself paralyzed flat on the bed. The only thing she could do was bite her lip and wait for whatever was going on to end, however the longer she lay there the harder it was to draw oxygen into her lungs, especially now that she heard something calling her name mixed in with the growling. The room felt like it was starting to spin and she was sure that the thing that was calling her name was coming from a woman with a gruff voice.

 

 

 

As her vision began blurring slightly she could make out a black mass that was clawing its way out of the ceiling, several arms protruding out of it in an attempt to reach her. Suddenly everything stopped and Lucile was stuck watching as the black mass fell from the ceiling, plunging her into nothing but darkness. Gasping sharply she shot up right from the bed and rushed out of the room not really sure where she was going.   
"Are you gonna put your clothes back on?" Eric asked as Thomas finally slipped out of his underwear   
"Never!" Thomas said throwing his underwear into the fire   
"Why did we let him drink?" Eric asked looking over at Holmes   
"Come here" Holmes said grabbing Thomas' wrist, pulling the naked man into his lap "should we call it a night?"  
"How does everyone else feel?" Cassandra asked "because I can go for a little longer"  
Becca and Eric both said they could stay out for a while longer as well but Holmes decided that he should probably get Thomas inside, the only problem with this was that Thomas didn't want to go inside yet. Letting out a slightly irritated sound Holmes grabbed the baron by the waist and threw him over his shoulder. It wasn't difficult to lug Thomas into the house the only problem was that he kept trying to grab at things that only got knocked over and Holmes knew he would have to go pick up after he got the other man in bed. Kicking open their door Holmes walked over to the bed and tossed Thomas onto it even though the baron still had a hold of the detectives jacket.  
"Come here" Thomas said tugging on the sleeve "let's have some fun"  
"You're drunk" Holmes said slightly surprised that the baron was able to pull him onto the bed with him  
"So?" Thomas asked nuzzling Holmes neck  
"You need to rest" Holmes said slipping away from the baron  
"Come on" Thomas said reaching out for the other man   
"No" Holmes said laying Thomas flat on the bed   
"You're no fun" Thomas pouted, lower lip sticking out, his arms crossed in front of his bare chest  
"Good night" Holmes said giving Thomas a kiss on the forehead   
"Can you tuck me in?" Thomas asked curling up on his side "I'm cold"  
"That's what you get for getting naked" Holmes said pulling the sheets up over the other man  
Leaving their room Holmes pulled his pipe out of his pocket and lit it as he went to check the halls for anything Thomas may have knocked down or broken. He didn't find anything on the second floor or on the steps so he moved into the living room and found Lucille standing in the middle of the hall staring blankly at the wall. Walking up to her Holmes called out for her and got no response so he snapped his fingers and waved his hand in front of the baroness' face still getting no response.  
"Lucille?" Holmes asked shaking her shoulder "Lucille are you alright?"  
"Huh?" Lucille asked snapping out of whatever trance she had been in "h-how'd I get out here?"  
"Where were you?" Holmes asked keeping his hand on her shoulder   
"I-I was in my room" Lucille said placing her clammy hand on her forehead "then everything went, went black and the next thing I know I'm out here with you"   
"Sounds like you may have been sleep walking" Holmes said moving his hand down to her upper back "we should get you back to bed. Lord knows you need a good night's sleep"   
"Where's Becca?" Lucille asked   
"She's still outside" Holmes said examining the bruises on the back of her neck to see if the condition had changed  
"But I saw someone in our room standing over the bed"   
"Are you sure about that?" Holmes asked, brows furrowed   
"Yeah" Lucille said looking the detective dead in the eyes  
"I'll search the room for you before you go back to sleep" Holmes said leading Lucille back to her room   
As she was lead back to her room Lucille felt completely drained and her feet could barely carry her so she slumped against the detectives side for support. Moving his hand from her back Holmes held onto her tricep to help her stay up right when he heard something rushing down the dark hallway.  
"Did you hear that?" Lucille asked, her eyes wide but unfocused  
"Yeah" Holmes said wishing he hadn't left his gun in his room  
Pulling the baroness closer to him Holmes was about peak up and down the hall in an attempt to locate whatever it was that had made the noise when several of the photos flew off the wall. Shielding the woman with his body he looked at the walls to assess the damage but there was no broken picture frames on the floor, they were all still hanging on the wall like nothing happened.  
"The fuck just happened?" Holmes asked the empty house hustling the woman into her room  
Standing in the door frame Lucille watched as Holmes did a sweep of the room to make sure it was ghoul free before she went to sleep. Once she got the all clear the detective left the room and she walked over to the bed and wasn't sure what compelled her to do this but before she crawled into the mattress the baroness grabbed Ediths statue and found that she was actually able to fall asleep this time. When Lucille awoke in the morning her eyes felt like they didn’t fit in her skull and the back of her head felt like it might explode. Rubbing both of her temples the baroness walked into the living room and couldn’t have been more grateful that the lights were off and the curtains were closed so very little light was filtering into the room. Walking over to the small piano that had been placed in the back of the room she took a seat on the bench and saw that Becca was the only other one in the room. The entire time they were there she knew the piano was in the room but she had no desire to play it even though she absolutely loved playing the piano.  
"God dammit Edith" Becca said placing the quill and paper she had been using on the coffee table in front of her "this is the third time you've made me rewrite this paragraph" there was a pause "I hate you so much" there was a smile on her face when she said this  
"Did you sleep on the couch?" Holmes asked as he and Thomas walked into the living room, his violin in hand   
"Yes" Becca said running her fingers though her bed head hair   
"How much longer are you going to be working on that?" Thomas asked as Eric and Cassandra walked in   
"We're on the last chapter" Becca said cracking her knuckles "after I'm done writing Mom is going to read over it to check for any errors, and then I'm gonna type it up, then Grandpa is going to publish it"   
"Whose name is going to be in the author's space?" Holmes asked taking a seat by the piano   
"Don't know yet" Becca said going back to writing "probably my first name and her last"   
The room fell into silence so Holmes decided to begin playing his violin and it was enough to make Lucille want to eventually join in on the piano, the tune sounding like it would fit with the song the twins mother sang to them.   
"Ooh death. Whooooah death. Won't you spare me over ‘til a another year?" Becca sang beautifully along with the instrumentals as she wrote "well what is this that I can't see with ice cold hands taking hold of me. Well I am death none can excel if I'll open the door to heaven or hell"   
"Whoa death someone would pray could you wait to call me another day" Cassandra sang not sounding as good as her sister, but was still pretty fantastic "the children prayed the preacher preached, time and mercy is out of your reach. I'll fix your feet so you can't walk I'll lock your jaw so you can't talk"   
"I'll close your eyes so you can't see this very hour come and go with me" Becca sang placing the paper in her lap "death I come to take the soul leave the body and leave it cold. To drop the flesh up off the frame dirt and worm both have a claim"  
"My mother came to my bed placed a cold towel up on my head. My head is warm my feet are cold, death is moving upon my soul" Lucille sang having heard the song a couple times before "oh death how you're treating me. You closed my eyes so I can't see. Well you're hurting my body you make cold, you run my life right out of my soul"  
"Oh death please consider my age please don't take me at this stage. My wealth is all at your command if you will move your icy hands" Becca sang finishing the song "oh the young, the rich, or poor. No wealth no land no silver or gold nothing satisfies me but your soul"  
"Your voices are still as beautiful as always" a man with an accent I can't quite place said sitting in a chair by the front door   
He was a tall shadowy Loa with coal-red eyes, grey-white face paint in the shape of a skull and black dreadlocks. He was wearing a long black overcoat and a top hat with small skulls around it, decorated with various bird feathers. Both of his hands were resting on top of a cane and there was a claw-like attachment on his finger. (How did American Horror Story weasel it's way in here? Bakatak: Get out of here I'm the only one that get's a cameo! But I'm the one writing.)   
"What are you doing here Papa?" Becca asked   
"It's Sunday darlin'" Papa said shifting in his seat "we always play chess on Sunday"   
"Who is this?" Holmes asked looking at the deity   
"He's some deity that has always been in our lives" Becca said   
"We can't get rid of him"   
"Why?"   
"Because of a deal I made with one of their ancestors back in the 1700s " Papa said getting to his feet "as the only child of the Scathach the first supreme she knew that she would be a target for many things. So she made a deal with me so that not only would her bloodline be as powerful as her mothers they would also be nearly invincible and I am 'ere to watch over them and make sure my end of the deal is up held"   
"What's a Supreme?" Holmes asked knowing he had heard the term before but he didn't know what it meant  
"She is the leader of her coven" Papa said motioning to the twins "and that is a position that these two now fill for theirs"   
"Of witches?" Holmes asked before thinking of something "they're that group of women that live the next block over aren't they?"   
"Yeah" Becca and Cassandra said simultaneously  
"Do you know the reason why the redheaded lady of the night is always invading my personal space every time I come into contact with her. It has become very irritating" he heard Thomas snicker "what?"   
"I told her to do that" Thomas said with a chuckle, a wide smile plastered on his face  
"Who the hell is Diana?" Cassandra asked suddenly, looking around the room, brows slightly furrowed in annoyance   
"What?" Becca asked looking at her twin   
"Did you not just feel that?"  
"Feel what?"   
"That thing that just happened!" Cassandra exclaimed holding her arms out to the side  
"What thing?" Becca asked holding her arms straight out in front of her "I have no idea what you're talking about!"   
"Why the hell not?" Cassandra demanded "your senses are stronger than mine. You should be feeling this, not me" Becca could only shrug "the fuck's goin' on here? Papa?"  
"I'm not sure darlin'" Papa said   
"I'm gonna do some investigating'" Cassandra said walking up the three steps   
Opening the door to the hall closet Cassandra reached up and gently nudged a box forward until she was able to grab hold of one of its corners. Pulling it off of the shelf Cassandra rested the box in the crook of her arm so she removed the lid. Dropping the lid on the ground she pulled out a polaroid camera (Yeah you can defiantly tell time period accuracy is top priority for me. Bakatak: Hey! Alright I'm goin'). Dropping the rest of the box on the ground she kicked it back into the closet before placing the camera down so she could set it up. Double checking to make sure everything was in working order Casandra took a picture of the hall behind her and other of the part that was in front of her. Letting both images print out she looked over both images and found nothing in either of them so she moved into the bed rooms taking pictures from each of the door ways and again found nothing in any of them. Blowing some hair out of her face Cassandra moved onto the first floor and started with the kitchen, working her way to the living room. Finding nothing in any of those pictures either she walked into the living room and found no one there. Looking out the window she saw that Becca and Papa were sitting on the front porch playing chess, she could see that Eric was chopping some more fire wood, Thomas and Holmes were walking out towards the lake, and she had no idea where Lucille was. Plopping down on the couch Cassandra decided to look over all of the pictures again to double check all of them to make sure she hadn't missed anything but still found nothing. Letting out a sigh she dropped all the pictures on the cushion next to her and slumped slightly in her seat.   
"Did you find anything?" A female voice suddenly asked from behind the couch   
Jumping slightly Cassandra turned around and saw Lucille standing a few feet away from her, clutching the doll she had found in the closet to her chest, and the twin could immediately tell that something was wrong with the baroness. Narrowing her eyes slightly the psychic raised the camera and snapped a photo of the other woman. Pulling the picture out from the printing slot on the camera she looked at the image and a noise that may have been a groan rose from her throat at what she saw. It was of Lucille still holding the doll but the shadow that lay at her feet had risen up and stood behind her while a black skinned, red faced, hove footed demon had one clawed hand holding onto the back of the baroness' neck. While on the steps was Edith's red ghost trying to reach out for Lucille only to be held back by a dark haired male ghost in a black leather trench-coat with a degenerating face.  
"What's wrong Cassy?" Lucille asked as a blacker than black shadow began moving along the wall   
Cassandra watched as the walked behind a painting of a nun her grandmother had hanging on the wall before she spoke "Oh fuck no"  
As she heard creaking bones Cassandra began making an escape plan, she could make a dash for the door, but then she would have to pass by the ghost nun so she figured her best shot of escaping would be to go out the window. Getting to her feet she made a dash for the window just as a body had formed under the painting and started rushing towards her. Ripping the window open the youngest of the twins dove out of the window, her foot catching on the wooden frame causing her to land face first on the ground below her.  
"Fuck!" Cassandra exclaimed angrily when she realized that she was on the second floor of the house instead of outside   
She could have gone into the demon room so there was no way the things that were attached to Lucille couldn't reach her in there but there were also a crap ton of others entities already in there. Getting to her feet Cassandra straightened out her skirt before deciding that Grand-Grands room would be the safest place, but before she could take a step something grabbed ahold of her ankle and dragged her down the hall and towards the basement before throwing her down its steps, miraculous doing no major damage to her body other than a busted open lip, some small cuts, a few deep bruises scattered across her body, and possibly a sprained ankle. About an hour had passed since the chess game had started and Becca and Papa had finished the game so they both decided to sit on the porch and talk.   
"You know you're coming in last in the field of romance" Papa said as they watched Eric chop and stack the new firewood "even Lucille has managed to have a go in the love department"  
"Since when do you care about my love life?" Becca asked with a smile   
"It just seems like it would be the quickest way for you to become a mother" Papa said as Thomas and Holmes made their way back from the lake  
"I could always just make a deal with you" Becca said pausing a moment before speaking again "you know something don't you?"  
"Can't say darlin'" Papa said getting to his feet "I must be goin' now. I'll see you next Sunday"  
"Bye" Becca said as the deity vanished   
"Has Cassandra come out of the house yet?" Eric asked wiping the sweat from his brow as he walked back to the house   
"No" Becca said "I actually don't think I've heard her moving around in there either"   
"I'm gonna step inside" Eric said opening the front door  
"He did a great job at replacing all that wood in such a short time" Thomas said taking a seat on the porch steps   
"That's what happens when you grow up in the wilderness" Holmes said taking a seat in the chair Papa had been in “living off the lay of the land”  
"He could probably lift you with one arm" Becca said   
"But the pen is mightier than the sword" Holmes said   
"So you're saying you can outsmart him?" Thomas asked looking back at the detective   
"Are you sure Cassandra didn't come outside?" Eric asked stepping out of the house, looking concerned   
"Yeah" Becca said "she isn't inside?"  
"No. I checked every room and I didn't see her or Lucille"   
"Did you check the basement?" Holmes asked  
"It was locked"  
"That door doesn't have a lock on it" Becca said getting to her feet  
No one said anything, but everyone was on their feet looking at each other until something rammed into a door somewhere inside the house and they all ran inside.   
"Where did that come from?" Thomas asked as they looked around the living room  
"The basement" Becca suggested leading the way to the door, grabbing its handle when they got there and tried turning it "nothing" she turned to Holmes "do you think you can pick it?"   
"I didn't bring my kit" Holmes said as Eric moved to the front of the group  
"Let me handle it" Eric said before kicking at the door with his booted foot  
The first shot to the door didn't do anything, so the huntsman gave it another kick a little closer to the handle and it did the trick causing the door to swing open with a bang. No one was really sure what to expect when they got to the bottom of the steps so they descended them slowly, Eric having taken the lead with his hunting knife at the ready. Getting to the bottom of the steps the first thing they saw was Cassandra sitting in a corner holding a bloody knife, her hair a tangled mess and she was covered in blood.  
"Cassandra?" Eric asked running over to his girlfriend "what happened?"  
"This blood isn't mine" Cassandra said slumping into the muscled body in front of her "there was something down here that tried attacking me and I killed it"   
"What happened upstairs?" Holmes asked   
"Here" Cassandra said pulling out a picture she had tucked into her bra "and there was a ghost nun"   
"Seriously?" Becca asked   
"What's wrong with that?" Thomas asked confused   
"Because if they aren't in a church then they're a demon in disguise" Cassandra explained as the photo was passed around  
"What the fuck is this?" Thomas asked when he had the picture in his hands "is Lucille alright?"   
"I'm pretty sure she's possessed" Cassandra said as Becca looked over the barons shoulder   
"Are we screwed?" Thomas asked   
"Maybe" Becca said   
"What should we do?" Holmes asked   
"We grab all the sage and burn it" Eric suggested  
"That might work" Cassandra said standing upright "all of it's in Grand-Grands room"  
"Let's go" Thomas said ushering all of them up the steps  
When they got back to the first floor they could all immediately tell that something was very wrong, all of the hallways seemed to go on for miles and everything was cast in intense shadows. Nobody said anything, huddling a little closer together as they crept towards Grand-Grands room when Holmes pointed out something else that was wrong, there was no door on the demon room. It had completely vanished, there wasn't even a trace of the hinges screwed into the doorframe.   
"Why are the walls bleeding?" Holmes asked as red liquid began seeping through the wall paper and out from under the pictures so he pulled out his gun  
"What're you doing?" Becca asked looking at the gun  
"You can't bring a gun to a ghost fight" Cassandra said   
"What do you think that's gonna do?" Thomas asked   
"I don't know" Holmes said putting his gun away "I've never dealt with ghosts or demons before. I live in a world of facts"   
"Well the facts are that now this house is full of demons" Eric said as a light grey porcelain doll wearing a long black dress with bob cut black hair suddenly appeared in front of them covering her hollow black eyes  
"Isn't she one of the dolls that were in the box with the clown and dummy in the back of the room?" Cassandra whispered to her twin  
"Yes" Becca whispered back dreading the moment when the clown would appear   
"What does that mean?" Thomas asked in a whisper as he and the other men leaned in  
"It means that these dolls are gonna try and kill us" Becca said still in a whisper   
"They're dolls" Holmes said "how much damage can they actually do?"  
"No idea" Cassandra said as the doll finally vanished "the dummy might be able to bite a chunk out of you"   
"How are we supposed to deal with them?" Eric asked   
"They each have different things you need to do to get away from them; the doll you have to look at until she leaves, you can't move when the clown shows up, and if you see the dummy then you run" Cassandra explained looking around "we should get to Grand-Grands room so we can come up with a plan"  
"We should hurry" Becca said looking around for the clown   
"Stop worrying about the clown" Thomas said as they made their way to the safe room  
Turning around Becca hissed at Thomas and was the first one into the room with everyone else close behind, all of them feeling relieved in the change of atmosphere.   
"What now?" Holmes asked locking the bedroom door behind them   
"I think we need to find a way to take care of the red faced demon first" Cassandra said taking a seat on the edge of the bed   
"What about that shadow one?" Holmes said leaning back against the wall   
"I don't think we can get rid of her” Becca sighed scratching her head “I feel like there’s more going on with her than the other one, but we might be able to suppress her”  
"What about Edith?" Thomas asked remembering that Ediths ghost was in the background “how can we help her?”   
"We need to find the statue I made of her" Becca said noticing a katana hanging on the wall "I'm sure the ghoul that was holding her back hid it to keep her spirit from interfering"   
"How are we going deal with the demon?" Cassandra asked her twin  
"We have to go into the Further" Becca said taking down the katana and unsheathing it, taking in the engravings carved into the blade   
"Alright" Cassandra said getting to her feet "let's do this"  
"What should we do?" Thomas asked very concerned about his sister   
"Find Ediths statue" Becca said as her sister laid down on the floor "she has to have been doing something good if they had to stop her"   
"Should one of us stay here and guard you?" Eric asked   
"It doesn't matter what we say because you're going to do it anyway" Cassandra said crossing her arms on her chest   
"What was that?" Becca asked feeling a chill go down her spine as a deep laugh echoed through the room  
"Don't turn around" Holmes said focusing on something behind Becca  
"Why?" Becca asked looking worried "what's behind me?"  
"Don't worry about it" Thomas said "just don't turn around"   
"It's the clown isn't it?" Becca asked in a strangled whisper, looking like she had stopped breathing   
"Yeah" Holmes said causing all the color to drain from the womans face "he's gone"  
When those words left the detectives mouth all of the air that Becca had been holding in her lungs was released in one gust and she collapsed on the floor.  
"You alright?" Holmes asked looking down at her   
"Yeah" Becca said laying flat on her back "you ready to do this?" she crossed her arms across her chest   
"I've been ready" Cassandra said closing her eyes  
"Spiritu duce, in me est. Deduc me in tenebris vita ad extremum, ut salutaret inferi" the twins both said under their breaths "descensum" reopening their eyes the twins found themselves looking down at their bodies   
"Where should we start?" Cassandra asked noticing that the sword had crossed over with them "the katana came with you? I feel like I need something now" she spotted a bow and bundle of arrows leaning against the wall with a note with the words Love Papa written on it "sweet" she walked over and picked them up and slipped the basket over her shoulder and Becca tied the strap that was connected to the sheath around her waist   
"They're in" Thomas said "we should look for Edith"  
"We should start in Becca and Lucilles room" Holmes suggested  
The baron, detective, and twins left the bedroom at the same time as Eric stuck around to watch over the womans bodies. The house in the spirit world looked the same as it had before they had come up from the basement with normal length hallways but the colors were dulled and a thick fog was rolling along the ground. The groups split up Thomas and Holmes going down the seemingly endless halls while Becca and Cassandra made their way outside which was nothing but a black void, the fog still rolling along the ground. After a few minutes of walking the twins came across a house standing alone in the nothingness. Glancing over at each other the two knew that this was where they were supposed to go, both of them keeping one hand on their weapons as they opened the front door. Back in the human realm Holmes made sure he was in the lead as he and Thomas walked through the seemingly endless hallway in their attempt to reach Becca and Lucilles room.   
"Can you see the end of the hall?" Thomas asked grabbing hold of Holmes jacket  
"Not yet" Holmes said looking over his shoulder "all I see is more hall and doors that probably lead to nowhere"   
"Do you think that the fact that the hall is so long is just supposed to distract us? Maybe their room was where it always was"  
"It is possible" Holmes said as they heard a little girls giggle   
"Is that the doll?" Thomas asked   
"I don't see it" Holmes said as Thomas spotted the doll right behind him "behind me"  
Holmes turned around so he could keep an eye on the doll as they backed down the hall when they hear a deep laugh so they froze.  
"Didn't they also say something about a dummy?" Thomas asked in a whisper   
"I believe so" Holmes said as the clown vanished but the porcelain doll remained   
"Where do you think it is?" Thomas said noticing there was an open door a few feet behind them "that door's open"  
Cautiously they approached the door unsure of what would be inside, Holmes holding his gun in his hand, finger on the trigger. They both knew it wasn’t going to be the room they were looking for because the door was on the wrong side of the hall. When they were two doors away from the open one Eric came rushing out of the room with a dummy clinging to his head and neither Holmes nor Thomas could help but laugh a little as they watched the big man that Eric was struggle to pry the tiny dummy off of his head.   
"Stop laughing and help me" Eric grunted finally pulling the dummy off, chucking it down the hall "wait, what are you doing back here?"  
"I believe this hall is just an infinite loop" Holmes said as the dummy got to its feet. It was in a black suit with short brown hair and had a skull-like shape to its face "and it seems we've just been walking in circles"   
"Oh crap" Thomas said as the dummy came charging back at them "here it comes"  
Aiming his gun Holmes shot at the dummy, but the bullets had no effect against the hunk of wood. Thinking quickly Holmes pulled out his box of matches, lit one of the sticks, and tossed it at the dummy, the fire catching on the hem of its pants leg quickly spreading. Opening the front door the twins walked into the house ever vigilant for anything that may attack them. Neither were really sure where they needed to go and contemplated splitting up but immediately decided against it. The first room they came across was the living room where a family was sitting frozen in place on the couch with wide unsettling smiles on their face and unblinking eyes that watched them as they walked. Cassandra grimaced slightly at the feeling of the family watching them as they passed even though their heads never moved. Walking out of the living room the twins found themselves in a hallway that was filled with a variety of different colored silk ropes hanging from the ceiling when they spotted their sister Nancy sitting in one of the ropes, the ends of it wrapped around her legs to make a makeshift hammock. She was the same height as her sisters with the same blue eyes as Becca, short curly black hair that was styled like Mrs. Lovetts, and was wearing a black dress that had mesh sleeves that turned into fingerless gloves at the ends of them, and had a brown bag she had slung across her chest.  
"Hey" Nancy said before rolling down the silk ropes  
"Nancy" Becca said addressing their little sister "what're you doing here?"   
"Apparently I was talking in my sleep again" Nancy said untangling herself from the silk rope "what're you guys doin' here?"  
"Something's going on with Lucille and we're trying to trap the demons back in the further" Becca said spotting the fiend that had been restraining Edith standing in front of an ominous looking blood red door "there's one of them"  
"You mean Larose (it's the last name of the fiends actor)?" Nancy asked looking over her shoulder   
"You know him?" Cassandra asked   
"Yeah we play cards together" Nancy said before rounding the corner "Larose!"  
"Oh God" Larose said as he watched the woman walk up to him "it's you"  
"Yup" Nancy said giving a friendly wave   
"You taklin' in your sleep again?" Larose asked with a small smirk  
gracing his decomposing face  
"Yup" Nancy said "you up for a game" she pulled a deck of cards out of her bag  
"Can't gotta guard the door" Larose said as Nancy started poking him "stop that"  
"I'm gonna keep poking you until you say yes" Nancy said focusing her pokes in the ghouls abdomen   
"Alright you're on" Larose said turning around to face Nancy as she shuffled the cards  
Opening the door as quietly as they could the twins could hear Tiptoe Through the Tulips as they crept through the doorway and down a long red lit hallway full of burning candles until the reached the inside of an old theater full of marionettes. In the middle of the room was the faded forum of Lucille laying unconscious on the ground with a shackle locked onto her ankle. As the dummy was burning it couldn't see where anyone was and ran past the men and down the hall.   
"Well that's one down" Thomas said when the glow of the fire vanished "two to go"  
"Lock the door the girls are in" Holmes said to Eric as he counted the doors that were on the opposite wall "we might need someone to kick open the door" he finished counting and pointed at a door "that should be the room Lucille was sleeping in"  
"What do we do if she's in there?" Thomas asked as he, Eric, and Holmes crowded in front of the door  
"I'm not sure" Holmes said testing the door handle to see if it was unlocked, it wasn't and the door swung open   
"Well this is obviously a trap" Thomas said looking into the pitch black room   
"Unfortunately this is where Lucille is going to be" Holmes said  
"I'm getting some sage" Thomas said walking back into Grand-Grands room   
"How exactly is sage going to help?" Holmes asked when his lover returned   
"You burn it and the smoke is supposed to clear away bad spirits" Thomas said grabbing one of the matches in Holmes box and lit the bundle   
"Are you still going to stay here?" Holmes asked the huntsman  
"Yes" Eric said   
Stepping through the doorway Holmes took the lead again while Thomas held the sage out in front of them, his arm stretched over the detectives shoulder. It only took a few steps before they found who they were looking for, the faintest amount of light at the end of the room slightly illuminating the form of Lucille as she stood in front of the closet looking like she was talking to something hidden inside of it. Even though physically Lucille was standing in her room mentally she sat alone in an empty void and didn't feel like she was whole or would ever be whole again. It was like half of her soul had been taken from her and what was left behind were the worst parts of her. She couldn't feel anything, she was completely numb the only other thing in the space with her was a faint but gruff voice talking to her. She couldn't make out what it was saying but it was strangely comforting while at the same time completely terrifying. Something that was buried deep inside her was telling her that she could overpower energy that was holding her captive if she tried, but she couldn’t bring herself to do anything.  
“Lucille” an elderly female voice said “Lucille, honey, you need to get up”  
“I can’t” Lucille said weakly  
“Yes you can” the voice said “you have the strength of everyone who’s worried about you behind you”  
“Who would ever be worried about me?” Lucille asked  
“Everyone who came out here to help you. Even Edith wants to help you”  
“Why would she? I murdered her”   
“She’s been watching you. She knows you’ve been getting better” the voice paused for a few moments “open your eyes, Lucille. Open your eyes”   
“What?” Lucille asked, but the voice was gone  
The baroness had no idea what the voice was talking about she already had her eyes open, at least she thought they were. With the elderly voice now gone she could make out four new voices mixed in with the gruff one that had been first speaking to her and she swore she recognized them. Two of them were definitely female and the other two were male.   
“I wish Holmes was here. He can pick locks”  
“No he can’t”  
“He’s better than us”  
“There’s something lurking just inside the closet”   
“Should I throw my sage in there?”   
“It’s worth a shot”  
Feeling some courage flowing into her gut Lucille opened her eyes and saw the twins out of one of her eyes and her brother and his lover out of the other.  
“Never more have I wished we could use our magic in the Further” Cassandra said as she fiddled with the lock by sticking the head of one of her arrows in the keyhole “you think the katana can break the chain?”  
“Maybe” Becca said unsheathing her sword “hold the chain tight”   
Doing what her sister said Cassandra grabbed the chain with both her hands and pulled it tight so Becca could slice through the one of the links. It worked, the sword breaking through the junction that held the chain links together. Now that the baroness was freed the twins got her to her feet when they spotted the same demon that had left the bruises on the back of Lucilles neck glaring down at them from up in a balcony.  
“Fuck!” the twins exclaimed in unison   
Taking the sage from the barons hand Holmes crept up to the closet and grabbed the edge of the door, glancing back at Lucille he saw Thomas was now standing next to his sister. Ripping the door open the detective tossed the sage into the closet and took the inhuman hiss that came from the darkness as a good sign. Turning around he and Thomas grabbed hold of Lucilles arms and bolted out of the room dragging her along with them. As the men were fleeing Holmes was ambushed by the porcelain doll. Letting go of the baroness the detective reached behind his head in an attempt to try and pry the doll off of him when Thomas stopped dead in his tracks and turned around.   
“Go!” Holmes exclaimed   
Biting his lower lip the baron reluctantly did what the other man told him and dragged his sister into Elise's room  
“What’s wrong with her?” Eric asked taking in the fact that Lucille was limp in her brothers hold  
“I’m not sure” Thomas said as the huntsman helped him lay her out in the bed “but Holmes and I found her like this”   
“Where is Holmes?”  
“He was attacked by that little girl doll and told me to run” Thomas said wanting to run back out into the hall the help his lover  
“You know he wouldn’t want you to do that” Eric said knowing what Thomas was thinking by the look on his face  
“I know” Thomas sighed, slumping slightly “would you be willing to go out”   
“I was already attacked by one of those dolls” Eric said as something banged against the wall out in the hall   
“I’m going out there” Thomas said turning to the door   
Draping Lucilles arms over their shoulders the twins were about to make their escape when they spotted the Red-Faced demon stalking towards them. Letting go of the baroness Cassandra pulled out her bow and arrow figuring it could buy her sister and her a couple extra seconds to escape. Taking aim she fired at the demon catching him in the knee which made him stop so he could remove the arrow from the bleeding wound, giving the woman the opportunity they needed to slip out of the room and run back down the hall.  
“What!?” Larose asked shooting to his feet as the twins and baroness ran past him  
“Shoulder bump!” Nancy said ramming her shoulder into the ghouls abdomen before running off with her sisters  
Reaching out for the door knob Thomas was about to open the door when Holmes rushed in, crashing into the baron sending them both down to the ground.   
“You’re alright!” Thomas said happily, hugging the detective when he felt something wet on the others neck “you’re bleeding”  
“That doll bit me right before I threw it into the wall” Holmes said looking around the room “is there anything in here I can bandage it up with?”   
“I don’t think so” Thomas said getting a closer look at the wound “but it doesn’t look that bad, if you press your handkerchief against it the blood should stop”   
“Is Lucille alright?” Holmes asked looking at the baroness   
“She hasn’t moved since we laid her down” Thomas said as the detective walked over to her to take Lucilles pulse   
“Her pulse rate is normal” Holmes said letting go of Lucilles wrist   
“Is she still breathing?” Thomas asked gnawing on his bottom lip  
“Yes” Holmes said hovering his hand over her mouth and nose, feeling the steady but faint gust of air blowing against it “have the others gotten back yet?”  
“Not yet” Eric said starting to get worried  
Running out of the demons lair the Rainer siblings managed to avoid all of the demons traps to stop them and make it to the front door of their grandmothers house. Being the only one with free hands Nancy opened the front door so they could all enter the house and immediately locked it behind them as well as blocking it with a table as an extra precaution. Grabbing her skirt Nancy ran after her sisters slipping past the opening in the door just as Becca kicked the door closed behind them. With everyone in the room the twins got Lucille by an arm and Nancy getting her by the legs they laid her spirit over her body expecting them to merge back together, but they didn't.   
“Why aren’t they merging back together?” Cassandra asked as Lucilles spirit laid next to her body   
“We need to find Edith” Becca said   
“I saw something red and human shaped in the demon room” Nancy said taking a seat on the floor looking like she was plotting something  
“Someone should stay here with her” Becca said scratching the side of her head  
“I can do it” Nancy said “I got nowhere to be”  
“Alright” Becca said as she and Cassandra went back into their bodies   
When their astral bodies merged with their physical ones both twins gasped as they sat up.   
“You’re back” Thomas said “what’d you find?”  
“We found her spirit” Becca said as she got up “but it’s not going back into her body”  
“Why?” Thomas asked   
“We’re not sure”   
“What did you find when you got her body?” Cassandra asked leaning back against the side of the bed  
“She was talking to something hiding in the closet” Holmes said   
“Did you see what it looked like?” Becca asked   
“No” Holmes said “it was too dark to see anything. We were barely able to find Lucille”   
"Do you know why she hasn't woken up yet?" Thomas asked gnawing on his lower lip  
"I'm positive it has something to do with Edith not being here" Becca said   
"Do you know where she is?" Thomas asked  
"Nancy said she saw her in the demon room" Becca said reaching out for the door handle   
"Wait" Thomas said walking over to the door "I'm coming with you"   
"Alright" Becca said opening in the door   
Peaking out the door at the same time one of them looking down the hall while the other looked up it before they both stepped out of the room. Hooking their arms together the two walked down the hall counting off doors until they reached what should have been the demon room. Keeping their arms locked together Thomas reached out for the doorknob to open the door but when his hand made contact with the metal the entire door vanished. Glancing over at each other they both squeezed through the doorway at the same time surveying the room spotting Ediths statue sitting in the glass case Annabelle once sat. Without really thinking about the chance that it could be a trap Thomas hurried over to the case.  
"Oh shit!" Thomas said as a black figure came out of the darkest corner of the room next to Ediths statue "the fuck is that!"  
"I think she's what's been oppressing Lucille" Becca said as she and Thomas took a step back   
"What about that other demon?"   
"Maybe she wanted the physical body while he fed off of her soul"  
"And the nun demon?"   
"Revenge" Becca shrugged  
"Lucille is mine!" the shadow creature rasped out, striking at them  
Crawling along the wall the creature tried to attack Thomas but he was able to dodge it, stumbling backwards he grabbed the curtain that covered the window and ripped half of it off of the rail it was held on pouring sunlight into the room. The moment light it the creature it vanished into thin air.  
"Where'd it go?" Thomas asked   
"No idea" Becca said walking over to the glass case to grab the statue   
Just as she was about to grab Edith she spotted the nun out of the corner of her eye, watching them like a hawk. Back in the room Cassandra, Holmes, and Eric sat waiting for the other two to come back.  
"You know I just remembered something" Cassandra said looking over at the detective "that spoon you picked up was originally found in an abandoned church that had mysteriously burned to the ground"   
"My bad" Holmes said hearing a faint whirling and soft music playing out in the hall "do you hear that?" he asked in a whisper   
"Yeah" Cassandra said standing up "should we go investigate?"   
"Might as well" Holmes said "one of us should stay by the door"  
"I'll do it" Eric offered   
Stepping out into the hall the two of them heard the music coming from behind them and spotted a teepee that a child had seemingly made out of bed sheets. Cautiously both of them approached it getting on hands and knees so they could slip past the sheets and see inside. Both of them spotted a revolving musical toy sitting in the center of the small space and watched the image on the inside of the circle until it faded and a creature that looked similar to it appeared in front of them.  
"Holy crap!" Cassandra said punching the creature in its face  
After she had punched the creature the sheets had collapsed on top of Cassandra and Holmes leaving them a bit disoriented and unsure of which way is out. Thankfully for them Eric came to their rescue pulling both of them out of the mess of sheets so they could all run back into the room, Holmes slamming the door shut behind them.   
"Nice punch" Holmes said as he and Cassandra leaned back against the door   
"Thanks" Cassandra said as something rammed into the door from out in the hall   
Grabbing a nearby table Eric moved it in front of the door so Holmes and Cassandra wouldn't need to barricade the door themselves. Moving out of the way the two made room for the huntsman to place down the table, Cassandra taking a seat on top of it.   
"It stopped" Cassandra said as the thumping ended "it's going for the closet!"   
As Nancy sat alone in the Further she passed the time by tossing the deck of cards the Papa had given her and she always had with her at her bag, waiting for something to happen.   
"The fuck was that?" Nancy asked as something moved along the wall, up to the ceiling, and to the closet door  
Stretching out her back she looked over the top of the bed and tried to see if anything came out of the closet. As she looked Nancy could've sworn that she heard something moving under the bed. Slowly the noise got closer the more alert she became before an arm reached out from under the bed. Rolling away from the bed she lifting herself up with one arm so she could backflip away. When she was on her feet she pulled her cards out of her bag gripping one between each of her fingers, her stance showing her was ready for a fight. Growling low in his throat the red faced demon crawled his way out from under the bed eyes focused on Nancy. Both Becca and Thomas watched as the nun emerged from the shadows, slowly walking towards them. Taking a step away from the case Becca grabbed Thomas' arm and whispered something in his ear.   
"I'm going to try and distract the nun" Becca whispered "and while I'm doing that you grab Ediths statue and run as fast as you can"   
"Alright" Thomas said matching the same level of volume Becca was using "how're you going to distract it?"   
"No idea"   
It didn't seem like she needed to do much because the nun's attention seemed to be focused only on Becca. Realizing this she slowly moved away from the stand Ediths statue was sitting on so Thomas would have an opportunity to snatch and run. It only took a minute before the nun was no longer looking at baron so Thomas took the opportunity to silently grab Ediths statue and slip out of the room. Keeping Edith held securely in his hand the baron ran down the significantly darker hall knowing that somewhere in the darkness was that shadow creature that had attacked him and Becca in the demon room. Stopping dead in his tracks Thomas heard something that sounded like a mix between a little girls giggle and a maniacal cackle as the smell of something burnt infiltrated in nostrils coming from behind him. Reluctantly turning around he saw what looked like a combined version of the porcelain doll and the dummy, covering its eyes, and squatting down behind him. This confused him slightly because not only had Holmes burnt the dummy he also shattered the doll's head. Getting a closer look at it the baron saw that it seemed as though the doll had shoved a few of the shattered chunks of its face into the burnt head of the dummy not only that but the dummy's body had no arms just legs where the absent limbs should be. Thomas wasn't sure what he needed to do half of the thing in front of him would want him to stay put and watch him while the other wanted him to run. He could've compromised and ran backwards, but that shadow creature was still lurking somewhere in the halls. Right now he was just grateful that the thing had its eyes covered. Slowly he backed away from the thing that sat on the floor when a pair of hands shoved him from behind, sending him to the floor and Edith flying out of his hand. Looking behind him Thomas saw nothing but darkness and got to his feet as quickly as he could so he could find Edith. Unfortunately the dummy doll was sitting right next to her now crouching on all fours. As the Red Faced Demon crawled out from under the bed Nancy tried to make a break for the door, but the demon had managed to grab ahold of her ankle.   
"Dammit Bishara (again the actors last name)" Nancy said with something that sounded like a combination between a groan and a growl as she kicked the demon in the face "let me go!"   
This took him by surprise giving her the opportunity she needed to to get a good kick to his face and escape. Ripping the door open she ran out into the hall in the hopes of at least getting him out of the house. As Nancy ran through the halls she could feel that something was leading her in the direction she was going, she just wished she'd been looking at the ground as she ran. Rounding a corner she'd made it about halfway down that hall when she tripped over something that was laying on the ground and went crashing to the ground. As Becca and the ghost nun were left alone the demon used its power to force her up against a wall when the physic suddenly remembered seeing five letters carved into the walls back in the Further.   
"Valak?" she noticed the demon had flinched the slightest bit when she'd said the name "that's your name isn't it? Valak"   
Hissing the demon dropped Becca from the wall to hit the ground, she sword bumped partially out of its sheath so both Becca and Valak could see the black energy that was coming from the blade. Grabbing hold of the katanas handle she waited for the demon to do anything but it seemed like it knew something about the sword that she didn't.   
"What is it about this sword you fear?" Becca asked holding the blade out in front of her "or is the fact that I know your names what you truly fear?"  
Growling the nun slunk back into the shadows and vanished leaving her alone in the room. Turning around Becca made sure she kept an eye on everything that was around her hoping that she would be able to see the nun when it came at her. Even though she was remaining vigilant and had a decent look out of her surroundings one of the shelves lifted off the ground the items held on it falling off the shelves. Hearing the clatter of falling items Becca turned around and managed to make a dive for the floor just as the shelf flew over her. As she was laying on the ground the nun grabbed hold of her leg and dragged her along the ground so it could throw her against the wall. Crying out in pain Becca lay on the ground, holding her sword in a death grip as the nun slowly approached her. Jabbing the blade into the floor she used the handle as a cane so she could shakily get to her feet, but before she could stand up straight the nun lunged at her. Pulling her katana out of the floor she swung it at the ghost slicing it across it's stomach, the black energy flowing from the blade absorbing it's entire body until there was nothing of the nun left. Everyone's attention was on the closet door as it slowly creaked open, everyone prepared themselves for a fight; Holmes pulling out his gun, Eric getting a firm grip on his hunting knife, and Cassandra resting one of her arrows against its bow. Just as slowly as the door had creaked open the creature from out in the hall emerged, only its head being fully visible out of the shadows.  
"It looks pissed" Holmes pointed out   
"Of course it's pissed" Cassandra said "I punched it in the face"   
"What should we do then?" Eric asked  
"Well abandoning Lucille is out of the question" Holmes said as it continued slowly emerged from the closet "I would suggest that we get it out of the room somehow, however doors and wall seem to have no effect on it at all"  
"So basically you're saying we're screwed?" Cassandra asked  
"Basically"   
"You're a useless detective" Eric said   
"Why isn't it doing anything!?" Cassandra asked as it remained lingering in the frame of the closet "Holmes, shoot it"   
"You really think that will work?"   
"I was able to punch it. It's worth a shot"  
"You are the expert on this matter" Holmes said firing off a round at it "that did nothing"   
Even though Cassandra was able to somewhat injure it, Holmes bullets seemed to have no effect on it as it just remained standing just in the closet frame watching them, seeming like it hadn't even noticed the bullet that had hit it square in the chest. Letting out a deep growl the creature stretched out it's long arm, reaching the other side of the room, so he could claw at Cassandra. Without even thinking she transmutated across the room and avoided the attack. Reaching out for it Eric grabbed its arm but the creature flicked him away like he was nothing as Holmes attempted shooting it again, to no avail. Remembering she still had her bow and arrow ready, Cassandra took aim and finally noticed the dark blue energy radiating off of the arrows head. Releasing the tail of the arrow she shot it straight through it's chest, the dark blue energy consuming a majority of it's chest leaving behind a large black bloody hole.  
"Did that kill it?" Eric asked as he walked up to it  
"It's not moving" Cassandra said  
"Ow" Nancy said propping herself up with her arms "what was that?"   
Looking behind her she saw a seemingly bound, gagged, and entirely red figure lying beneath her legs.   
"Edith?" Nancy asked getting on her hands and knees so she could turn around "what happened?" Frantically Edith tried to to say something but her words were muffled by the cloth that was tied around her mouth. "Alright calm down" she grabbed the gag a pulled it off of Ediths mouth  
"Quick unite me!" Edith said rolling onto her side so the other woman could untie her  
"Ok. Ok calm down" Nancy said pulling on the knot to loosen it   
"Do you not see what's goin' on here?" Edith asked   
"What?" Nancy asked looking around her, finally noticing the weird mix-matched doll sitting next to them as well as Thomas in front of them while an entirely black woman in front of him "no! I am not an observant person" she finally undid the rope around Ediths wrists "it's why I'm constantly getting lost"  
Both of them started working on the rope around Ediths legs and were able to free her legs, just in time too because the Red Faced Demon came rushing around the corner crawling along the wall.  
"Shit" Nancy said getting up and running down the hall  
Turning down a different hall she finally found the front door and knew that she only had one shot at getting the demon out of the house. Running up to the front door she opened it to create the illusion that she'd left the house. Looking behind her she saw that the demon hadn't reached her yet so she looked around for a place to hide and spotted the table that sat next to the door. Opening the small cabinet door on the bottom of the table she slipped into the tiny space, never more great full that she was able to contort her body so she could fit. Holding her breath Nancy listened carefully for the sound of hoof steps as they entered the living room. Covering her mouth just to be safe, she waited for anything to happen and eventually heard the clopping of the hooves exiting the house. Getting out of the table as quickly as she could Nancy ran over to the door and locked it, pushing the table in front of it as an extra precaution. Panting she leaned back against the side of the table and happened to glance out the window just as the demon slammed up against the window in an attempt to break through the glass scaring Nancy enough she was jolted awake in her bed back home. Once she was free Edith got to her feet and tackled the shadow creature away from Thomas, keeping a death grip on her waist so she would be unable to get away. Watching from where he sat on the floor Thomas saw a red blur come from out of nowhere and tackle the shadow away, while simultaneously drawing the frankenstein dolls attention away for the statue. Reaching over he grabbed Edith and slowly crawled away from them, only getting up to run once he'd turned a corner. As he was running he could hear footsteps ahead of him running towards him. Before he was able to stop or react to the footsteps he crashed into Becca, the two of them falling in a pile on the floor. Both of them quickly realized who they'd bumped into which was good because Becca was still on edge and ready to murder anything that came close to her.  
"How'd you get in front of me?" Thomas asked as they got to their feet  
"I'm not sure" Becca said looking behind the baron to make sure no one was following him "do you still have Edith?"  
"I do?" Thomas said holding up the statue "do you know where the room is?"  
"It's right there" Becca said pointing at the door that was behind Thomas   
Both of them entered the bedroom and saw Eric, Holmes, and Cassandra lifting the creature that had attacked them off of the floor so they could carry it to the door and throw it out of the room.   
"What the hell happened in here?" Becca asked as she and Thomas stepped aside so they could throw it out of the room   
"This thing attacked us" Holmes said as the three of them dropped it in the hall before they rejoined the psychic and baron in the room "you have the statue?"  
"Yeah" Thomas said looking at Becca "what should I do with her?"  
"Put her in Lucilles hands" Becca said   
Doing as he was told Thomas rushed over to his sister and placed the red statue in her hands, clasping her fingers around it.  
"She's stopped breathing" Thomas said noticing his sister's chest had stopped rising and falling, his eyes wide in panic "what's happening?"  
"Calm down" Becca said bumping the baron out of the way so she could lean over his sister, her face inches away from Luciles "vatalum vitals" she blew a gust of breath into the other's mouth   
Gasping suddenly Lucille sat up, panting heavily, as her skin became covered in a cold sweat.   
"Oh thank God" Thomas said pulling his sister into a hug "you're alright"  
"What happened?" Lucille whispered, sounding out of it  
"You were possessed" Thomas said releasing his sister   
"I was what?" Lucille asked rubbing her forehead   
"What do you remember?" Holmes asked   
"I can barely remember anything from this weekend"   
"Who is Diana?" Cassandra asked placing her hand on top of the baroness   
"Diana?" Lucille repeated "I met someone with that name in the first sanitarium I'd been committed to but she died a few days before I was released"   
"She’s the shadow creature that's attached itself to you. Why do you think she'd do that?"  
"For whatever reason she thought we were friends"   
"Were you?" Thomas asked   
"No. I barely knew her"   
"Unfortunately she'll be with you for the rest of your life" Cassandra said "but I'm sure we can find someway to coexist with her"  
"But how're supposed to deal with all of the other entities that have escaped the demon room?" Eric asked   
"The demons have been banished" Edith said appearing next to the bed "so everything is back to the way it was before"   
"Oh thank God" Becca said plopping down on the floor "I am done with this bull shit"   
"I know tonight was exhausting" Cassandra said  
"At least you got to punch a demon in the face" Eric said   
"That was pretty fun"  
"I'm just glad that everyone is alright" Edith said "especially you Lucille"  
"Why?" Lucille asked "I murdered you"  
"And I have forgiven you" Edith said taking a seat next to the baroness "plus there's a tidbit of information that Rebecca and Cassandra have passed along to me that has helped with the process"  
"Even if we ask you you're not gonna tell us right?" Thomas asked "with your nothing is set in stone moto"  
"Bingo" Becca said   
No one slept for the rest of the night and they all sat together locked in Elise's room until the sun began peeking up over the horizon. When the morning sun began shining in the sky everyone went back to their rooms so they could pack their bags. Stepping into her room the first thing Becca saw a grotesque clown doll with white skin, bloodshot red eyes, large red nose, a blue top hat on his head, and was wearing a yellow, blue, red, and white-striped suit and pants and a pair of large red clown boots and white gloves laying on the floor.  
"Nope" Becca said turning out of the room "nope" she walked past the others into the basement "nope" she grabbed a gun off the wall and walked back up the steps "nope" she kicked open her door and shot the clown doll in the face  
“What was that?!” Lucille asked walking into the room  
"That's exactly what the clown outside the window looked like, except he was missing his entire lower jaw" Becca said lowering the gun  
“Well come on we’re leaving” Lucille said quickly grabbing her bag   
“Give me a second to put this back” Becca said also grabbing her bag   
"I'll take those" Eric said snatching both bags from the women   
Taking the gun back into the basement Becca put it back where it belonged before joining everyone in the carriage. Everyone was exhausted during the ride back to the train station and couldn't wait until they got on the train so they could sleep on the way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was talking with a girl I was training at work about Lights Out and it turned into how the Mom and Diana were connected by the mother's depression and that she was somehow materializing it in the form of Diana and I thought it would be fun to do something like that with Lucille. Also because of James Wans producing credit there will be some Easter eggs for him in here. Also I promised :iconBakatak: that if she could guess the movies that I was planing Easter eggs for she could have a cameo and the American Horror Story infusion probably happened because every time I watch Murder House my mind keeps throwing Becca in there and while I was writing part of the ending I was listening to Markiplier playing Emily Wants to Play so that's how those dolls got in here.


End file.
